Talking about interpretive power, what Schnabel does here is pretty mind-bending. This piece is genuinely dark and introspective. Rare for Mozart. Schnabel makes it so compelling, he totally gets it. The threatening fate, the attempt to escape, the pleading and the compromises. All these elements. He seems capable of single handedly reenacting Don Giovanni (with able assistance from the orchestra and the conductor)
Further notes by weston: His famous quote on Mozart's music is insightful:
"Children are given Mozart because of the small quantity of the notes; grown-ups avoid Mozart because of the great quality of the notes."
Schnabel was not a technically perfect pianist, even though he studied with legendary Leschetizky. And some of the performances including the one here have flaws. But what he did musically is so compelling that negates the issue.
