- The second movement from Mozart's 23rd Piano Concerto isn't an especially notable one, but evidently fits the mood Infine were going for in producing the soundtrack to Air France's new advert. But why is this review on an electronic music website? Well, firstly it's on an electronic label, with a remix by an electronic artist. And anyway, the current intermingling of styles that we're seeing is most definitely extending in a classical direction as well.
Mozart's composition starts with a solo piano and a light melody, before woodwind and strings swell in grand melancholy. The piece shifts between moods—innocent, desolate, passionate—and flows through it all with deftness. The recording is a good one, bringing out the emotions in the piece with clarity. Arandel, meanwhile, is a talented producer with neo-classical tendencies (see his 2010 album In D for evidence), which makes him a wise choice as remixer. It also makes it all the more disappointing that the extent of his rework is pretty minimal. It seems mostly ornamental: adding a few slow analogue keyboard arpeggios and hazy vocal "aahs" over the top, and cutting the requisite elements or frequencies to make room. The sounds he chooses are dusty, and the effect is to make it sound more austere, so there is a degree of adaptation. But it's a case of if it ain't broke, don't fix it, which wouldn't have applied if it was more adventurous.
Tracklist01. Piano Concerto No 23 In A K 488: II Adagio
02. Piano Concerto No 23 In A K 488: II Adagio (Arandel Remix)
03. Piano Concerto No 23 In A K 488: II Adagio (Air France Edit)