K 475

[Holden]

The recent spate of Mozart piano sonata posts here and in other forums has had me listening to a variety of pianists in this repertoire over the last few months. Usually, when I come to K457 in C minor it's preceded by the K475 fantasia and it's been interesting to hear  how they have responded to Mozart moving away from sonata format and how they handle the inherent drama of this work (which is longer than some of his sonatas).

So far I've listened to Kraus (both versions) Haebler, Roberte Mamou, Arrau (live in Tanglewood), Uchida, Say, Barenboim, Ciani, Gulda and Gould. The takes on these are so different. The Arrau seems to capture the drama the best but I wonder if this is Mozart played as Beethoven. Lili Kraus doesn't suffer from this and has a recording I like but I really like Arrau's sense of the dramatic in every little moment.

There's also the issue of tacking it onto the beginning of K457. From what I can gather, this was Mozart's intention - an extended prelude so to speak. Which raises the question about how a pianists interpretation of the Fantasia would then affect their segue into the first movement of the sonata.

Which K475s do you like? Who does a good job of marrying it up with the C minor sonata?

[North Star]

I'm rather fond of Bezuidenhout, though his recordings of 475 and 457 are on different volumes of his Mozart series.

[Mandryka]

Years ago I made a note to say that I was really impressed by the way Virssaladze handles the transition, like 10 years ago, I don't know what I'd think now. There's a recording from Munich , , ,

I'm  keen on Richter in Zug (Stradivarius), for the sense of a great mind and soul grappling with a great score. Maybe the Live Classics recording is as good or better, I'd have to check but I'm a bit distracted by Renaissance lute music at the moment. Mozart seems impossible . . .

If you want I'll let you have Sokolov playing it in Schwetzingen in 2001 - I really can't remember anything about it, but it's bound to be worth hearing once I think.

[Mandryka]

In 475, one thing I really can't stand is a pounding bass, I think it's a really tasteless and childish way to play the music, yet so many pianists do it, Beszuidenhout for example in his first CD, and I just listened to Siegfried Mauser, who plays the bass like a battering ram.

Maybe they're inspired by the idea that Mozart wrote the music for a pedal piano with a loud independent bass. If I were serious about the sonata that's something I'd explore. Schiff recorded 475/457 on Mozart's pedal piano, for the Mozart museum in Salzberg.

But the idea that it's written for an 18th century pedal piano may have implications for cantabile. These instruments hardly sustained the higher registers much . . .

[bwv 1080]

was not sure if this was Mozart or Scarlatti,

I like Bart Van Oort's FP recording on Brilliant

The wiki article on the sonata mentions Mozart sometimes performed the Fantasy separate from the Sonata

[Todd]

I tend to like my K475s strongly characterized and played with drama, and if it becomes more romanticized, that's fine by me.  Probably my favorite version of 475/457 is Anderszewski's, but Mauser and Say also work for me.  Gulda is also outstanding in 475.

[Jo498]

It is also one of the few Gulda Mozart solo recordings in studio quality sound. There are probably several, he apparently was quite fond of the piece but one is on the DG studio album with K 570 and 576.

[Herman]

The wiki article on the sonata mentions Mozart sometimes performed the Fantasy separate from the Sonata

I don't understand this (apart from the apparent fact that the wiki on 475 doesn not say this).

As far as I know Mozart performed piano concertos in public, but piano sonatas, let alone his Fantasies?

Maybe I'm completely wrong but especially with the Fantasies my feeling is he maybe played them once or twice at home and the next day he played another one he never got 'round to writing down.

My sense of the Fantasies is we're allowed a rare glimpse into what he was doing in his downtime.

[North Star]

I don't understand this (apart from the apparent fact that the wiki on 475 doesn not say this).

As far as I know Mozart performed piano concertos in public, but piano sonatas, let alone his Fantasies?

Maybe I'm completely wrong but especially with the Fantasies my feeling is he maybe played them once or twice at home and the next day he played another one he never got 'round to writing down.

My sense of the Fantasies is we're allowed a rare glimpse into what he was doing in his downtime.

BWV 1080 wrote of the wiki on the sonata. To be precise, it says that Mozart sometimes performed the pieces separately - but no evidence to support this is presented.

[Mandryka]

Maria Yudina recorded the fantasia and the sonata, but on my recording 475 is a postlude to 457! I don't know if it's just a fault in the ordering or whether she really did conceive it like that.

[Mandryka]

Here's Schiff's essay in the booklet to the recording he made on Mozart's piano, with quite a lot to say about 475

THE EXPERIENCE OF PLAYING ON MOZART'S FORTEPIANO
Performing music by great composers of the past is often a guessing game. We have their scores, but as all musical people know, the written text is only an approximate and very imperfect representation of the composer's thoughts. To prove this one should listen to Bartok's own recordings. How wonderful it would be if we could actually listen to Bach playing the organ or Mozart playing the piano! Even if such reconstructions are impossible, the chance of playing on the very instrument that Mozart owned and used presents a unique opportunity to come closer to the sources. What are the lessons to be learned from such an experience?

First of all, this instrument is capable of covering the full expressive range of Mozart's most mature masterworks, like the great Fantasie, K. 475. When playing this work on the modern piano, one cannot take advantage of all the resources of the instrument. Not so with Mozart's fortepiano. One has the sensation of recreating something that goes to the expressive and dynamic limits of the instrument. The action is very light, especially by today's standards (many of the pianos today seem to be built for the use of athletes or body-builders). Obviously such an action (like that of the clavichord) exposes and exaggerates all the faults of unevenness in Mozart's delicate passages (one has to practice!). The tone is very characteristic, sweet and clear — of modern pianos it is the Bosendorfer that comes nearest to this ideal. By varying the touch and by using the 'moderator' one can achieve a very wide spectrum of subtle colours. The two sustaining pedals — operated by the knees — are especially informative. On modern pianos the pedal can do a lot of damage to the transparency of the music; on Mozart's piano the player can pedal seperately for the bass or for the whole keyboard, a device that Mozart no doubt fully used. It is also a misbelief that today we tend to take much faster tempi than musicians did two hundred years ago. On Mozart's instrument one can articulate the smallest note values at a very lively speed.


It is also instructive to remember that a Mozartean Andante is not an Adagio (i. e., K. 511): the music must move ahead at a walking pace.To realize this with the great resonance of modern pianos is very difficult; on Mozart's instrument the tempi are almost unquestionable. Last but not least, playing this instrument in the beautiful surroundings of Mozart's birthplace, one cannot but be moved and transported. My heartfelt thanks to the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum for this unique opportunity.
Salzburg, 28.5.1991 Andras Schiff

[Que]

Here's Schiff's essay in the booklet to the recording he made on Mozart's piano, with quite a lot to say about 475

And about the merits of using a period fortepiano...

Q

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I'm rather fond of Bezuidenhout, though his recordings of 475 and 457 are on different volumes of his Mozart series.

On Bezuidenhout's "Mozart Sturm und Drang" album, K. 475 is the first track, followed by K. 457.

[North Star]

On Bezuidenhout's "Mozart Sturm und Drang" album, K. 475 is the first track, followed by K. 457.

Yes; I was thinking of his later recordings for Harmonia Mundi.