The latest stop on Robert Levin and the Academy of Ancient Music’s belated traversal of Mozart’s complete output for keyboard and orchestra revisits familiar ground. Levin last recorded K365 and K242 more than three decades ago, partnered by Malcolm Bilson, with Melvyn Tan joining in for K242 in its three-piano incarnation. Comparative listening reveals notable interpretative and timbral differences.

Take the pianos, for starters. The present recording features instruments based on a 1786 Stein, whose treble register conveys a crisp, harpsichord-like patina in contrast to the rounded warmth of the Philip Belt instruments modelled on Mozart’s own Anton Walter concert fortepiano largely used in the Bilson/Gardiner recordings. This imparts an extra edge to the sequential interplay and long chains of trills between Levin and his excellent duo-partner wife Ya-Fei Chuang in the first movement of the E flat Concerto (K365), along with more zest to the cadenzas. Newfound lightness in the Rondeau finale’s rapid left-hand triplets allows for a wider berth of witty inflections and forward-moving animation.

Since the third pianist in the F major Concerto is essentially a fifth wheel, differences between K242’s two versions are marginal at best. As such, I prefer the more angular sophistication of the Levin/Chuang third movement to Bilson/Levin’s elegant symmetry. However, under Gardiner’s watch, the English Baroque Soloists are more evenly balanced from section to section in comparison to the Academy’s relatively thinner strings and slightly less wieldy horns. Play the E flat Concerto’s opening ritornello in both recordings back-to-back and you’ll hear what I mean. Although K242’s Adagio times out faster here, there’s a stronger sense of motion and shape in Gardiner’s handling of the bass lines and inner parts.

In 1778 Mozart began working on a concerto for violin, piano and orchestra, yet never got past the first 120 bars, of which only the first 74 were completely scored. Fine and idiomatic though Philip Wilby’s reconstruction for Philips’ Complete Mozart Edition is, Levin inhabits Mozart’s personality more imaginatively. He and violinist Bojan Čičić play off of one another like friendly rivals at an after-hours jam session, oblivious to any audience or recording device. As with previous AAM label releases in this series, the production values are on the highest level, from gorgeous sound to a lavishly annotated hardcover 59-page booklet that credits each and every participant.