Mozart piano sonatas

[Mandryka]

There are performance differences which makes me prefer the mono set.

[George]

There are performance differences which makes me prefer the mono set.

Such as?

[Mandryka]

Such as?

One that was very clear to me was   K. 284, especially the variations movement. I thought it was one of the finest Mozart performances I have ever heard on the mono. And just a bit boring on the stereo.

[IfULikeMyPeruqPlizTellMe]

A bit overshadowed by the concertos, the sonatas are not as well served as their counterparts. Though there are quite a few interesting recordings: Vlado Perlemutter, Walter Gieseking, Claudio Arrau, Ronald Brautigam...
I would stress out one recording from Ciccolini (La Dolce Volta) which appears to me as the best way to serve Mozart. Ciccolini infuses depth into music while keeping his child soul... A very rare moment of truth. Arrau's interpretation is not far away but there are moments with a bit too depth or sadness, and not enough child. For sure one of the most difficult partition to play, not because of technical difficulty, but this music requires a profound wisdom (Only for old sages, maybe  )

[Bogey]

A little help here.  Saw these two lps the other day and just want some background on the performances if possible:

[Todd]

A little help here.  Saw these two lps the other day and just want some background on the performances if possible:

An intriguing find.  I've never heard of this pianist before.  Would be interested in knowing about him myself.  Looks like the price is low enough to warrant trying at least one.

[Bogey]

Thanks, Todd.  About all I can find:

http://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/konzerte/calendar/details/7553

[Bogey]

And this:

Seiji Ozawa (小澤 征爾, Ozawa Seiji, born September 1, 1935) is a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera. Seiji Ozawa was born on September 1, 1935 to Japanese parents in the city of Mukden, Manchukuo (now Shenyang, China). When his family returned to Japan in 1944, he began studying piano with Noboru Toyomasu, heavily studying the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. After graduating from the Seijo Junior High School in 1950, Ozawa sprained his finger in a rugby game. Unable to continue studying the piano, his teacher at the Toho Gakuen School of Music (Hideo Saito), brought Ozawa to a life-changing performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, which ultimately shifted his musical focus from piano performance to conducting. Almost a decade after the sports injury, Ozawa won the first prize at the International Competition of Orchestra Conductors in Besançon, France. His success in France led to an invitation by Charles Münch, then the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra....

[Todd]

Here's the Japanese wiki page: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B1%8A%E5%A2%97%E6%98%87 (Use Google Translate.)  Not much there.  Searching Amazon Japan and HMV Japan using 豊増昇 rather than the English spelling yielded nothing at HMV and a few items at Amazon Japan.  Ebay has an expired listing from Australia of the Goldbergs.  His stuff is rare, indeed.  Buy without delay, I say.

[Bogey]

Here's the Japanese wiki page: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B1%8A%E5%A2%97%E6%98%87 (Use Google Translate.)  Not much there.  Searching Amazon Japan and HMV Japan using 豊増昇 rather than the English spelling yielded nothing at HMV and a few items at Amazon Japan.  Ebay has an expired listing from Australia of the Goldbergs.  His stuff is rare, indeed.  Buy without delay, I say.

Playing album 1 now, Todd.  Very nice, but I do not have the background like some of you here to compare well.  I may write to Ozawa and see if he has any further info on his recordings.  Thanks for the digging.

[Mandryka]

A bit overshadowed by the concertos, the sonatas are not as well served as their counterparts. Though there are quite a few interesting recordings: Vlado Perlemutter, Walter Gieseking, Claudio Arrau, Ronald Brautigam...
I would stress out one recording from Ciccolini (La Dolce Volta) which appears to me as the best way to serve Mozart. Ciccolini infuses depth into music while keeping his child soul... A very rare moment of truth. Arrau's interpretation is not far away but there are moments with a bit too depth or sadness, and not enough child. For sure one of the most difficult partition to play, not because of technical difficulty, but this music requires a profound wisdom (Only for old sages, maybe  )

Thank you for mentioning the Ciccolini recordings on La Dolce Volta. I've listened to the one with K457, and I enjoyed it tremendously. Is that the one you were thinking about? What you say about depth and child-soul seems absolutely spot on in the sonata at least.

You mentioned Arrau. I hope you've had the chance to hear the 1964 Mozart concert from Tanglewood that was released on Music and Arts last year. I think it's more successful than the Salzburg Mozart recital from the same time period on Orfeo.

[George]

I have been listening to Gieseking's EMI complete set of solo Mozart Piano works and really enjoying it.

I also love Kraus's two sets.

[Todd]

I also love Kraus's two sets.

There might be three.  The Kraus box has a cycle listed as being from 1956, which would mean that it is not the same as the Haydn Society 1954 recordings.  However, one may just be a licensed issue of the other.  (I read intimations of that on a discography site.)  Since I will be buying the Kraus box shortly, I will find out soon.  Kraus is among the great Mozartians.

[George]

There might be three.  The Kraus box has a cycle listed as being from 1956, which would mean that it is not the same as the Haydn Society 1954 recordings.  However, one may just be a licensed issue of the other.  (I read intimations of that on a discography site.)  Since I will be buying the Kraus box shortly, I will find out soon.  Kraus is among the great Mozartians.

She sure is!

I have the scans for that box at home. I plan to buy it very soon. I understand that the performances are the same ones that are in the (1954) Music and Arts set.

[George]

There might be three.  The Kraus box has a cycle listed as being from 1956, which would mean that it is not the same as the Haydn Society 1954 recordings.  However, one may just be a licensed issue of the other.  (I read intimations of that on a discography site.)  Since I will be buying the Kraus box shortly, I will find out soon.  Kraus is among the great Mozartians.

The listing is wrong. They are both from 1954. Same recordings, with the new box having much better sound.

[elotito]

So many recordings 

I have a set by Daniel-Ben Pienaar but I listened to it today and I wasn't very happy with the sound. I keep seeing recommendations for Uchida...it would be a good all round set?

[George]

So many recordings 

I have a set by Daniel-Ben Pienaar but I listened to it today and I wasn't very happy with the sound. I keep seeing recommendations for Uchida...it would be a good all round set?

For all around set, I suggest one of the Kraus sets. Most find the earlier one to be better. I may be selling my earlier one (Music and Arts), as it is duplicated in the new set. 

[Que]

So many recordings 

I have a set by Daniel-Ben Pienaar but I listened to it today and I wasn't very happy with the sound. I keep seeing recommendations for Uchida...it would be a good all round set?

I'm not keen on Uchida, but rest assured - most people disagree.

I would recommend this. Cheap too...

[asin]B005910E06[/asin]

I you like period instruments (fortepiano), this is hard to resist - either everything, or just the sonatas:

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[asin]B008XRQS3A[/asin]

Q

[Cosi bel do]

I can confirm the "Haydn Society recordings" released by Music & Arts are the same (licensed) recordings than the Discophile Français recordings in the Warner set.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I'm not keen on Uchida, but rest assured - most people disagree.

And heartily! Uchida roars like a lion amid a prairie full of newborn kittens.