Thursday 24 July 2008

131. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Sonatas (1775-89)



















Recording

Title: The Piano Sonatas
Performer: Mitsuko Uchida
Year: 1991
Length: about 5 hours (5 CDs)

Review


This is a pretty amazing collection of the 18 piano sonatas by Mozart, Uchida is also a pretty amazing performer, even the parts that are astoundingly well known as the Turkish Rondo and the first movement of the Sonata facile are not tiring or tacky because the performance is so consummate that you listen to them with new ears.

Mozart's sonatas are a thing of simple beauty, none of them are amazingly complex, but they are all beautiful, there is a sense of childish play that goes through all of them, giving them a particular charm. The first CD of this collection is slightly less good than the other 4, which is a testament to Mozart's progression as a composer.

So a really beautiful collection, which is definitely worth your time listening to it and repeating it again and again, in the process of listening to the whole collection 3 times for this review my favourite sonatas have changed every time, because there are so many good ones, there are so many bits of music that stick with you. Highly recommended.

Final Grade


10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major, K. 545 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is possibly his most famous piano sonata. It was described by Mozart himself in his own thematic catalogue as "for beginners," and it is sometimes known by the nickname Sonata facile or Sonata semplice.

Mozart added the work to his catalogue on June 26, 1788, the same date as his Symphony No. 39. The exact circumstances of the work's composition are not known, however. Although the piece is very well known today, it was not published in Mozart's lifetime, first appearing in print in 1805. A typical performance takes about 14 minutes.

Mitsuko Uchida plays the second movement of Sonata 16, "Sonata facile" k545:

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