Cleveland Orchestra Mitsuko Uchida Announce Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 17 & 25 Recordings

The Cleveland Orchestra and Mitsuko Uchida announce the release date of their latest Decca recording project: Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 17 (K453) and 25 (K503), which were recorded live at Severance Hall in February 2016. On October 28, 2016 the recording will be available in the United States and internationally. Beginning October 21 it will be available at the Cleveland Orchestra Store; it is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com here:http://amzn.to/2cYXERH and iTunes here: http://apple.co/2cXrWz1.

"With K453 in G major Mozart opens a new horizon in his piano concertos," says pianist Mitsuko Uchida. "With this lyrical and poignant piece, he began using the woodwinds as solo instruments, almost equal to the piano. This new inspiration reaches its peak with K503 in C major, the grandest of all the concerti, majestic and mysterious. The often asked question which piano concerto of Mozart was my favourite, I have to answer 'The one I am playing today.' But these two come pretty much at the top."

A longtime collaborative partner, Ms. Uchida has performed with The Cleveland Orchestra over 100 times since her debut in 1990, in a range of repertory from Mozart and Beethoven to Schoenberg and Messiaen. The newest Mozart recording is part of a series of recordings with The Cleveland Orchestra, following on four previous Mozart releases (details are included below). All feature Ms. Uchida conducting the concertos from the keyboard. During the 2016-17 Severance Hall season, Ms. Uchida will conduct and perform Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 13 and 20 on April 6, 7, and 8.

The Mozart recording project developed out of a performance series with The Cleveland Orchestra in which Ms. Uchida performed all of Mozart's solo piano concertos over a period of five seasons, 2002-2007. The success and acclaim of those concerts led to a new multi-year project to revisit select concertos in the series, to record live at Severance Hall and create her definitive interpretations of the selected concertos. All four previous albums have been acclaimed and critically reviewed. In 2011, Mitsuko Uchida won her first Grammy Award for the first recording in this series, Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 23 and 24. The newest recording being released this autumn is the final planned album in the series.

The Cleveland Orchestra and Mitsuko Uchida
Ms. Uchida, who made her Cleveland Orchestra debut as piano soloist in 1990 and her conducting debut with the Orchestra in March 1998, has appeared with the Orchestra in more than 100 performances, including concerts at Carnegie Hall and on tour in Europe and Japan. From 2002 to 2007, she served as Artist-in-Residence with the Orchestra. She completed her five-year project to perform all of Mozart's piano concertos with the Orchestra in May 2007. At that time, the Orchestra and Ms. Uchida decided to partner with Decca to revisit and record a selection of Mozart's concertos for worldwide release.

Acclaim for Ms. Uchida's interpretation and performances of Mozart's Concertos Nos. 17 and 25 with The Cleveland Orchestra:

"Uchida's approach to Mozart is well-known in Cleveland. She shapes the orchestral accompaniment with exquisite care ... her rendering of the solo part is colorful, crisply articulated and governed by a natural sympathy for the innermost thoughts of the composer."

-cleveland.com

"The glory of the Cleveland Orchestra remains its balances: the smooth yet complex blend of its winds, the way the lower strings offer subtle depth to the higher ones."

-The New York Times

"Alert yet dreamy, freely bending the tempo throughout, Ms. Uchida was most fascinating in the way she shifted her approach between the concertos. In the earlier work, her sound was pebbly: smooth yet defined. In the latter, her tone was richer, by the end almost organ-like in its amplitude and grandeur. With the orchestra, her relationship was intimate, playful, delightful."

-The New York Times

Recording Details:
The Cleveland Orchestra
Mitsuko Uchida, Conductor and Soloist
Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 17 (K453) and 25 (K503)

International Release Date: October 28
Available exclusively in the Cleveland Orchestra Store: October 21 ($20.00)
Available now for Pre-Order on Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/2cYXERH and iTunes: http://apple.co/2cXrWz1.

Production Credits:
? 2016 Decca Music Group Limited
© 2016 Decca Music Group Limited
Recording Producer, Engineer & Editor: Everett Porter
Assistant Engineer: Bruce Gigax
Recording Facilities: Polyhymnia International BV and The Cleveland Orchestra
Recording Location: Severance Hall, Cleveland, Ohio, 11-13 February 2016 (live recording)
Piano Technician: Georges Ammann
Production Co-ordinator: Joanne Baines
Product Management: Sam Le Roux

Previously released Decca recordings of Mozart Piano Concertos with

The Cleveland Orchestra and Mitsuko Uchida:

Piano Concertos 23 & 24 (released September 2009): http://amzn.to/2dexj1o.

Piano Concertos 20 & 27 (released May 2011): http://amzn.to/2dbCRH3.

Piano Concertos 9 ("Jeunehomme") & 21 (released September 2012): http://amzn.to/2d2ZvRs.

Piano Concertos 18 & 19 (released September 2014): http://amzn.to/2d302Ty.

The Cleveland Orchestra's Recording Legacy
The Cleveland Orchestra held its first recording session in 1924 and is one of the most acclaimed and recorded orchestras in the world. The Orchestra's performances have been heard by millions through radio and television broadcasts, on LPs, CDs, DVDs, and via internet downloads and online streaming. Franz Welser-Möst has added to an extensive and widely praised catalog of audio recordings made during the tenures of the ensemble's former music directors. In partnership with Clasart, he has created DVD recordings of live performances of five of Bruckner's symphonies, presented in three acoustically distinctive venues (the Abbey of St. Florian in Austria, Vienna'sMusikverein, and Severance Hall). Another standout Clasart DVD project includes a three-disc set of important Brahms orchestral works (including the complete symphonies, violin concerto, and piano concertos) from live performances at Severance Hall, Royal Albert Hall, and the Musikverein. In 2016 the Orchestra and Welser-Möst made a DVD recording of the Brahms German Requiem at the Abbey of St. Florian, which is set for distribution in Europe in 2016 and the United States in 2017. With Cleveland, he has also released a recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as well as an all-Wagner album featuring soprano Measha Brueggergosman. In addition, the Orchestra has recorded important new albums with longtime guest artists Pierre Boulez and Mitsuko Uchida.

About The Cleveland Orchestra
As it nears the centennial of its founding in 2018, The Cleveland Orchestra is undergoing a renaissance. Acknowledged as among the world's best, its musicians, staff, board of directors, volunteers, and hometown are working together on a set of enhanced goals for the 21st century - to develop the youngest audiences of any orchestra; to renew its focus on fully serving the communities where it performs through concerts, engagement, and music education; to continue its legendary musical excellence; to build on its tradition of community support and financial strength; and to move forward into the Orchestra's next century with a commitment to diversified programming. The Cleveland Orchestra divides its time each year across concert seasons at home in Cleveland's Severance Hall and each summer at Blossom Music Center. Additional portions of the year are devoted to touring and to a series of innovative and intensive performance residencies. These include an annual four-week residency in Miami, a biennial residency at Vienna's Musikverein, and appearances at Switzerland's Lucerne Festival, New York's Lincoln Center Festival, and Indiana University. www.clevelandorchestra.com.