Mozart: Piano Concertos No. 18 and No.19, Mitsuko Uchida (piano), Cleveland Orchestra. Decca CD
She gave her first solo recital at 14 and won first prize at the Beethoven Competition in Vienna in 1969, second in an International Chopin Competition (1970) and second in the Leeds Piano Competition (1975).
She has won numerous honours since then, including Gramophone and BBC Music magazine awards and US Grammys, being made a Dame by Britain in 2009 and awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal in 2012.
This pianist is celebrated as a leading Mozart interpreter, sensitive, crystalline and true for the composer's notes: here she also conducts from the keyboard to ensure a close rapport with one of America's ''Big Five'' orchestras.
Mozart himself did this at his premiere performances, and here the soloist seems to draw out all the composer's warmth and originality.
And Mozart's own cadenzas are used.
The two concertos No.19 in F major K459 and No.18 in B flat major K456 were written just before the famous final ones but are just as captivating, hinting at the maturity to come in his later works.
Both of them have elements of a military-style repeated-note dotted rhythm, with trumpets and drums specified for the later work.
K456 features abrupt mood changes, a delightful toy fanfare by the violins, and a cheerful ''hunting'' theme finale.
K459 has an Allegretto in place of the usual slow movement and a crowning glory in the finale, of symphonic weight and joy.
Highlight: Mozart treat: grace and vitality.
