Richard Galliano Plays Mozart

Richard Galliano

Richard Galliano Plays Mozart
Format
Audio
Publisher
DG
Published
20 May 2016
ISBN
0028948126620

Richard Galliano Plays Mozart

Richard Galliano

Legendary accordionist Richard Galliano again forges new paths in classical music with this album of well-known Mozart pieces.

The third album of classical repertoire from the legendary jazz accordionist, this follows his extremely successful albums of Bach and Vivaldi which sold over 50,000 copies in France alone.

Richard Galliano shows a clear empathy for the music of Mozart, largely borne from his origins playing classical music at the beginning of his career before turning his attentions to jazz.

Here he enlists the help of a talented sextet of musicians to enable the listener to experience some of these best-loved works as they’ve never heard them before.

Track listing:

  1. Rondo alla Turca from Piano Sonata No. 11, K331
  2. Serenade No. 13 in G major, K525 ‘Eine kleine Nachtmusik’
  3. Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, K339: Laudate Dominum
  4. Clarinet Concerto in A major, K622
  5. Adagio in C major, K356

 

Review

Have you ever wondered what might’ve happened if Mozart had been born a Parisian busker rather than an Austrian composer? Neither had I until I heard virtuoso French accordionist Richard Galliano’s Mozart album. Normally I am a purest, and find that any attempt to ‘improve’ Mozart’s music is in fact to vitiate it. However, I have been unexpectedly charmed by Galliano’s Mozart arrangements. Surprising, considering that I wasn’t a big fan of his previous Vivaldi album: I found the accordion too cumbersome an instrument for the sprightly and brilliant Four Seasons.

Rondo alla Turca – the third movement of Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 11 – is probably one of the most recognisable pieces of classical music in the Western canon, and it has been performed, arranged and rearranged practically to death. Its overuse in no way lessened my utter, undefiled enjoyment at Galliano’s version of it, performed by Galliano with vim and vigour. The accordion lends itself particularly well to the solo part in Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. Here, the orchestral accompaniment has been arranged for string quintet, and the resulting texture is similar to that of the Clarinet Quintet. Galliano’s Mozart is the perfect blend of joie de vivre and classical elegance.


Alexandra Mathew

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