This record takes us to 1951 and 1956, the glory years of Arthur Grumiaux, born in 1921. At the time he was recording these three Mozart concertos for Radio Stuttgart, two with the Radio Orchestra itself, and the last with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra directed by Karl Münchinger. This recording gives us a glimpse of an extraordinarily "present" musician whose discourse seems almost to be spoken: it’s so natural, and so stripped bare of any pretension. This is pure diamond Mozart, almost raw, imbued with tremendous modernity. The tempos are brisk, without ever disappearing off into any of the neo romanticism which was often evident in the mid-20th century, and which involved the addition of rather perilous glissandos. For sure, the orchestra doesn't play according to what would later be laid down as the principles of "historic truth", any more than Grumiaux plays his violin in the old style. But what lively playings! The 1951 recordings can't hide their age, and the sound, even when very well-mastered, is very clearly of its time, three quarters of a century ago. © SM/Qobuz