What do people think of Gulda's Mozart recordings, what with his improvisations and everything? I think there's something about them that is beautiful, although I know his playing is not conventionally 'Mozartian' and he was always controversial.

He didn't always improvise or play along in tuttis, nor 'jazz' things up in classical works - for instance, listen to his concerto recordings with Claudio Abbado and the Wiener Philharmoniker, which were pretty straight and 'classical' - including in his cadenzas.

Straight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kiyql1Cj2Ec

Slightly wonky (i.e. more like the way Wolfie probably played them):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kT6iP6Jkt8

Crooked:
(Unfortunately, those more 'extreme' YTs have been taken down )

Gulda was a brilliant pianist if unconventional. I am not too much of a fan of his Mozart interpretations, particularly the late ones. But he also played a lot of Bach and recorded the full set of Beethoven sonatas, i have the box set. His Beethoven sonatas are often very interesting, full of life and maybe less dramatic than many other versions. He recorded those quite early in 1967 maybe when he was not yet completely into his jazz impro thing. But i always found Gulda to be an excellent musician and an interesting character.

I think he was phenomenal.

His Beethoven sonatas are wonderful. I would say there's the same authentic vibrancy in his Mozart, although I can see why you might not be too keen on some of the later recordings. Which pianist/pianists do you favour for Mozart?

(Very Gulda - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WixmssqHCbY)

Are there other pianists besides Gulda who improvise ornaments (and passages I wouldn't even call ornaments) in Mozart? I haven't heard any others do this but Gulda certainly added a lot of his own stuff to the first and second movements of K.332.

Is adding ornaments etc. in Mozart as mainstream as adding ornaments in Bach or Scarlatti seems to be today?

Robert Levin improvises whole cadenzas when he plays Mozart concertos. The cadenza he improvises in the concert is typically entirely different from the rehearsal.

My question was more intended about the question of adding notes and improvisations to the sonatas vs. improvising/writing a new cadenza in a concerto. The type of thing Gulda does in the recordings I mentioned is what my question was about.

Kristian Bezuidenhout - not the best pianist around, but he won't disappoint when it comes to spontaneous improvisation.

Robert Levin improvising Mozart —- and not cadenzas

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SVexDvUi1DA

To be honnest i have not listened to Gulda older recordings of Mozart. I listened to his late versions on YT. I found he was sometimes having a percussive sound, maybe too dynamic for me. But no judgment on my part. I think he does put quite some life into it and the impro do not bother me.

I am fairly conservative in my Mozart preferred pianists. So Uchida certainly, Arrau which no matter what he plays is always interesting, Badura Skoda on the fortepiano, Clifford Curzon in some of the concertos, Clara Haskil also. But there are plenty of interesting pianists in the new generation as well. Mozart has been widely recorded that you can find so many good versions ....

Any others besides a forte pianist and a pianist I never heard of who improvise in Mozart Sonatas?

Do you classify Levin in either of these two categories?

Isn't he a forte pianist?

He can be but I heard him perform on a modern acoustic. I don’t have enough info to know what is his standard

Very few pianists ever perform on a forte piano. He does a lot and I think that's mainly what he's known for.

Gulda was certainly unique - I agree that sometimes his playing is a bit intense.

For Mozart I love Uchida also, and Joao Pires. She hasn't recorded masses of Mozart, but Argerich and Mozart is phenomenal - like everything she does!