Peter Serkin plays Mozart (Sony Classical Masters)

Sony Classical proudly announces an uncommonly attractive new batch of reissues from the CBS/Sony and RCA Victor/BMG back catalogues. This latest installment of the popular series showcases the reissue of a path-breaking composer edition as well as recordings by some of the labels greatest artists of the last half century. Peter Serkin, whose recorded output is dwarfed by his fathers in sheer size but by no means in artistic distinction, is spotlighted in a new release playing Mozart: his complete RCA recordings of the composer. When his set of Piano Concertos Nos. 1419 was released in 1973, High Fidelitys reviewer wrote: I have heard no other pianist who seems to follow every pulse of this Mozartean vitality quite as beautifully as Peter Serkin, and the combined efforts of Serkin fils with Alexander Schneider and the English Chamber Orchestra on this RCA set form very simply one of the most important contributions to the Mozart discography. The new box also contains Serkins distinguished mid-1970s recordings of the Clarinet Quintet and Piano-Wind Quintet K 452 with members of his distinguished ensemble TASHI. And Mozart lovers and admirers of this outstanding pianist will be particularly excited by the reissue of Peter Serkins extraordinary solo Mozart album from the late-1960s. High Fidelity called it exceptional Serkin plays every note as if his life depended on it, and a more recent reviewer in ClassicsToday described it as sounding as fresh and individually compelling as it did four decades ago when I first acquired it as a double-LP set and wore it out within a year Serkin simply is astonishing This is a release to cherish, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.