Mozart piano sonatas

[SonicMan46]

Thanks Guys for the encouragement! 

I expect to enjoy the Eschenbach performances w/ all of the positive comments here - it's in the mail, so no turning back @ the moment!     Dave

[George]

Thanks Guys for the encouragement! 

I expect to enjoy the Eschenbach performances w/ all of the positive comments here - it's in the mail, so no turning back @ the moment!     Dave

Eschenbach's Mozart is great, one of the classics! 

[DarkAngel]

Thanks Guys for the encouragement! 

I expect to enjoy the Eschenbach performances w/ all of the positive comments here - it's in the mail, so no turning back @ the moment!     Dave

Classical music catalog is full of examples where later performances are not nearly as good as earlier performance of the same younger performing artist......

Eschenbach is one of my very favorite modern piano Mozart sonata sets, my top choice for modern piano is Pires/DG (repeating myself from earlier in this thread)

[Franco]

I also like Alicia de Larrocha.  I recently got the Gulda Mozart Tapes and find it not entirely pleasing, seems sight-read.

[Mandryka]

I also like Alicia de Larrocha.  I recently got the Gulda Mozart Tapes and find it not entirely pleasing, seems sight-read.

Do persist with Gulda's Mozart  – at least if you mean the tapes released in 2006. I thought they were really  rewarding. Listen, for example, to the the explosive third movement of K457. And the stately opening movement of K570.

In one respect he's rather like Gould  – he has a winning sense of rhythm. It's all subjective I suppose, but for me Gulda's  beat in those recordings  is irresistible

[DarkAngel]

Mentioned by many here already in this thread, an absolute essential purchase for Mozart sonatas........but don't wait forever the BIS boxset is becoming hard to find and very rare on the used market like Amazon. Good set to discover the magic of forte piano sound (Anton Walter replica instrument)

Listened to this set again and love it to death........
I had forgotten what a bonus the variations were, you get 4 CDs of them to go with 6 CDs of sonatas, 10 CDs total

[Todd]

Do you have trouble falling asleep?  Do you need a new non-prescription sleep aid?  Then you may want to consider Heidi Lowy's recording of Mozart's piano sonatas.  This cycle, recorded for Musical Heritage Society in 1999 and 2000, is easily the most boring and limited I've heard. 

The first thing one notices is the timings.  They are uncommonly generous, especially in the opening movements of just about every sonata.  Of course, by generous I mean long.  That's not a bad thing, per se; Maria Joao Pires generally takes longer yet in the second and third movements of each sonata.  No, it's how the pianist plays.  Ms Lowy is very deliberate, to the point of fussy and at times blocky playing.  Verve and drama are basically AWOL across the board, including in the sonatas that need it (K310, for instance).  And forget energetic fun in something like the closing movement of K331.  As I wrote before, the movements are generally just plain long.  The faster and more complex passages also seem to be something of a struggle for Ms Lowy, though that just may be her striving for effect, I don't know.  I do know that I routinely wanted each sonata to end between five and fifteen minutes before the last note was played, and on more than one occasion I found myself nodding off.   

The sound doesn't help matters.  The piano is too closely miked, and perhaps partly as a result, the dynamic range is limited.  It never seems to range beyond either mezzo piano or mezzo forte, and attacks are almost all blunted. 

No, I don't like this set much at all.  It's not nearly as bad as, say, Glenn Gould's perverse Mozart, but that's not saying much.  Of all of the complete cycles or other recordings of Mozart's sonatas I've heard, I must say that this is pretty much near the bottom of the pack.  People who like slow, fussy, and dulled down Mozart may like it, though. 

[Gurn Blanston]

Thanks for the warning, Todd. One thing I can't stand it's Mozart stuck in the mud!

[Bulldog]

Do you have trouble falling asleep?  Do you need a new non-prescription sleep aid?  Then you may want to consider Heidi Lowy's recording of Mozart's piano sonatas.  This cycle, recorded for Musical Heritage Society in 1999 and 2000, is easily the most boring and limited I've heard. 

The first thing one notices is the timings.  They are uncommonly generous, especially in the opening movements of just about every sonata.  Of course, by generous I mean long.  That's not a bad thing, per se; Maria Joao Pires generally takes longer yet in the second and third movements of each sonata.  No, it's how the pianist plays.  Ms Lowy is very deliberate, to the point of fussy and at times blocky playing.  Verve and drama are basically AWOL across the board, including in the sonatas that need it (K310, for instance).  And forget energetic fun in something like the closing movement of K331.  As I wrote before, the movements are generally just plain long.  The faster and more complex passages also seem to be something of a struggle for Ms Lowy, though that just may be her striving for effect, I don't know.  I do know that I routinely wanted each sonata to end between five and fifteen minutes before the last note was played, and on more than one occasion I found myself nodding off.   

The sound doesn't help matters.  The piano is too closely miked, and perhaps partly as a result, the dynamic range is limited.  It never seems to range beyond either mezzo piano or mezzo forte, and attacks are almost all blunted. 

No, I don't like this set much at all.  It's not nearly as bad as, say, Glenn Gould's perverse Mozart, but that's not saying much.  Of all of the complete cycles or other recordings of Mozart's sonatas I've heard, I must say that this is pretty much near the bottom of the pack.  People who like slow, fussy, and dulled down Mozart may like it, though.

Well, I don't have Todd's reaction.  He gets sleepy listening to Lowy's Mozart, I get irritated.  She's very mannered and routinely damages the music's flow and grace; there are even times when she sounds clumsy.  Overall, I think her interpretations stink.

Funny thing is that two Fanfare reviewers praised Lowy's Mozart. 

[Antoine Marchand]

Highly recommended!

[LapsangS]

Badura-Skoda on period instrument

[Todd]

When I bought Heidi Lowy's Mozart set, I also finally bought Maria Joao Pires' DG cycle.  There are some notable differences.  But first the similarities.  Both sets are six discs.  Both pianists take a generally slow approach, Lowy more notably in the opening movements, Pires more notably in the second and third movements.  That's where the similarities end. 

Whereas Lowy comes across as quirky, dynamically limited, and just slow, slow, slow, Pires comes across as more vital, more varied, and more in sync with the music.  Her articulation is splendid, her dynamics just right – meaning not excessive but not AWOL, either – her tonal shading lovely but not to excess.  Yes, some of the slow movements are quite slow, but they never drag.  Pires plays with just the right amount of drama in the later sonatas that benefit from such playing, and she sounds positively Mozartean in some cases.  One such case is the opening movement of K331, where each variation is distinctive yet blends wonderfully with the others.  The movement is simply wonderful.  Alas, the closing movement of the same sonata lacks the amount of pep I prefer.  But that's a quibble.  As I went through the cycle, I did not hear even one weak sonata.  The only weakness I could detect had to do with the sound, which is a bit bright and metallic at times. 

While I can't say that Pires ultimately matches up to my big three in this music (Endres, Klien, and Krauss mono), she is superb and will definitely receive additional airings round these parts.  What a fine antidote to the awful Lowy. 

[Opus106]

I know I was one who requested your views on this set: so thanks for that.

[Coopmv]

DA,  I have placed 3 orders on BIS recordings so far this month.  The next two orders will consist of the following sets and a few other BIS SACD's.





I will not bother with Brautigam's Beethoven Sonatas since I already have over 10 cycles of those works.  I seriously doubt he can top Backhaus, Kempff, (Annie) Fischer, Gilels and Gulda.

[Todd]

I will not bother with Brautigam's Beethoven Sonatas since I already have over 10 cycles of those works.  I seriously doubt he can top Backhaus, Kempff, (Annie) Fischer, Gilels and Gulda.

He cannot and does not, but then few pianists can top the five you mention.

[DarkAngel]

DA,  I have placed 3 orders on BIS recordings so far this month.  The next two orders will consist of the following sets and a few other BIS SACD's.

 

I will not bother with Brautigam's Beethoven Sonatas since I already have over 10 cycles of those works.  I seriously doubt he can top Backhaus, Kempff, (Annie) Fischer, Gilels and Gulda.

Now that is a great pair of boxsets to demonstrate forte piano performance technique......

Beethoven is more of a mixed bag with forte piano versions like Brautigam, Haydn and Mozart work wonderfully but Beethoven sonatas take more advantage of the extra range and shadings of modern grand piano so those are my primary preferred versions also (even though I have Brautigam for variety)

[Coopmv]

Now that is a great pair of boxsets to demonstrate forte piano performance technique......

Beethoven is more of a mixed bag with forte piano versions like Brautigam, Haydn and Mozart work wonderfully but Beethoven sonatas take more advantage of the extra range and shadings of modern grand piano so those are my primary preferred versions also (even though I have Brautigam for variety)

Agree.  Beethoven's Piano Sonatas often require the power to properly project the sound stage.

[Mandryka]

I enjoyed Paul Badura-Skoda playing K332 today. A recording on fortepiano. Stylish and passionate -- maybe not quite as supremely poetic as Lubimov at his best (like in K330) -- but in K332 rather more spontaneous than Lubimov in fact.

[prémont]

Agree.  Beethoven's Piano Sonatas often require the power to properly project the sound stage.

Yes it is indeed difficult to understand, that Beethoven didn´t write for our modern piano. 

[Herman]

 

While I can't say that Pires ultimately matches up to my big three in this music (Endres, Klien, and Krauss mono), she is superb and will definitely receive additional airings round these parts.  What a fine antidote to the awful Lowy.

And how does Pires DG match up to the earlier Pires cycle in your view?