Mozart wrote his five violin concertos in 1775 (with the possible exception of the first, which may have been composed in 1773), the last three in October, November and December of that year. They mark a milestone in his work: at age nineteen, he was now composing "mature" work. The astonishing thing here is that his second concerto, composed in June, is still the work of a "young" composer, while the last three, presented in this recording by Marianne Thorsen and the Trondheim Solistene, have moved into fundamentally new territory.

One thing that always strikes me about Mozart's music is its sheer vitality. While these three works don't evidence the depth or substance of the last symphonies, Die Zauberflöte, or Don Giovanni, that vitality, the sheer energy of Mozart's writing comes through in full measure. They are, needless to say, tremendously appealing works, recorded any number of times by an array of legendary soloists and orchestras.

I have to say, though, that as intriguing as these works are, my devotion to Mozart's music was born of the aforementioned operas, the Requiem, and the last few symphonies, which as far as I'm concerned are in a class by themselves. The violin concertos were, let us remember, commissioned as entertainments, and while Mozart was moving into a new phase in his composition, they don't have the weight to occupy a central place in my basic Mozart library -- they are lively and articulate, but the passion isn't there.

The performances by Thorsen and the orchestra under the able leadership of Øyvind Gimse are marked by clarity and precision, both characteristics I appreciate in any performance of any music and regard as critical for Mozart. This is not to imply that there is anything mechanical here. Quite the contrary -- Thorsen takes an approach in the solo passages that verges on the romantic, showing an excellent sensitivity to the sweetness of the writing without slipping into sentimentality, while the support by Gimse and the ensemble is crisp and at the same time nuanced. I don't know if I can honestly call this the "best" recording -- there are recordings by such luminaries as Arthur Grumiaux and David Oistrakh that are stellar -- and "best" is a pretty subjective thing. The recording comes as two discs, one a standard audio CD, the other a super audio that only provides full sound on a dedicated SACD player.

My reservations notwithstanding, this is certainly a strong offering and one I am very happy to have in my collection, Mozart freak that I am.

2L can be found online at, you guessed it, 2L. The Trondheim Solistene are also online.