Mitsuko Uchida is noted for her interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Schubert but is also a dedicated performer of the music of Berg, Schoenberg and Messiaen. She has recorded all of Mozart's piano sonatas and concertos. The Sonata recordings won the 1989 Gramophone Award. Her other recordings include works by Debussy, Chopin and Schumann.
 
Together with director Kurt Sanderling, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mitsuko Uchida has recorded Beethoven's five Piano Concerto's (on three CDs). Only at the age of 30 did Beethoven (1770-1827) feel mature enough to compete with his model Mozart - who had definitvely created and established the genre - and dared to publish his concertos for piano. Beethoven had written the first two in the 1790s, but only after the composition of No. 3 in C minor op. 37 in the year 1800 did he find his own form and distingish himself from Mozart. It is considered the formally most coherent and richest of his five piano concertos. On the other hand, No. 5 in E flat major op.73, written in 1809, is the climax of the classic type of concerto in form, theme, expression and pianistic brilliance. Unfortunately, the Bavarian Radio Syhmphony Orchestra does not always perform on the same level as Mitsuko Uchida. Her refreshing interpretations of Beethoven's works and her clear and pure playing deserve a better partner. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Piano Concertos No. 3 and 4) served her better. Still, one wishes Mitsuko Uchida could have played with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Sometimes, dreams come true...