At 0:51 .. Mozart , his great idol :-) ... simply brilliant the opening of the first movement ... the contrasts, the emotions .. delicious. It is like he is talking to Mozart saying ... here, this is where we need to go .. to go beyond your genius. Incredible achievement .. he bridged the gap to modernity. Zimmerman has a very effortless style, that makes you forget his playing and concentrate on the music. I have my own favorite though (Katchen on Decca, the best kept secret)
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Yes, the whole Katchen set is indispensable and tragically underrated! Fleisher/Szell on Sony and Serkin/Kubelik on Orfeo are two other personal favorites.
Serkin is a more oldschool "romantic" sort of piano player. His technical skills are not up there with Katchen, but then he adds more personal interpretation, while Katchen is methodical and logical. It is a question of taste most times, which version one prefers. At times I prefer the precision, other times the interpretation. The sheer technical level of the concertos, demands a high level of technical skill to match. The sonatas, are more open to personalization. But again that is my view. i like Katchen for his powerful and precise logical expression of the concertos. On a different level than all other. For the symphonies i might add that i like the original instrument version with Immeseel and Anima Eterna... a glorious "wooden" sound, particularly for the Pastorale, that enhances the "natural" feel of nature :-)
Serkin is a genius. Very interesting. :-)
Even the beginning refrain sounds similar to the opening notes of Mozart's Piano Concerto 24 in C Minor