Mozart piano sonatas

Started by Mark, September 20, 2007, 05:16:34 AM

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Mandryka

Quote from: Todd on August 01, 2015, 07:12:15 AM




A second shot at HIP Mozart sonatas.  Alas, it is no more successful than the first.  Again, the instruments are to blame.  They mostly sound like broken, out of tune upright pianos.  Sound quality is quite good, which just exacerbates the unpleasant sound of the instruments.  Listening to entire discs was a chore, and I am confident in writing that this set will not receive a lot of play time here.  I do not fault Mr van Oort's playing so much.  Indeed, he plays very well, and he seems to offer more nuance and variation in style than Lubimov.  I just wish he had used better instruments.  I think I'll take a break from HIP Mozart for a while.



Here's one you should avoid at all costs (I love it!)



By the way I just noticed that Gianluca Cascioli has released a Mozart sonata CD.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Jo498

It's been a while that I listened to them and it's less than half of the sonatas but there is a two-disc-set with Van Immerseel playing the "late" sonatas on an historical instrument I found quite pleasant sounding.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Todd





Karl Engel.  The last of the six new Mozart sonata cycles for year.  Karl Engel is new to me, and this set is excellent.  For the most part, Engel plays everything very well.  His tempi are well judged, his dynamics appropriate, his clarity and independence of hands superb.  There are a few times where I suppose I could have used a little bit more oomph or speed – the opening of K310 or K570, for instance – but such moments are rare.  I can't say that his set catches my fancy like my established favorites, but at no point did I find myself hoping a disc would end sooner than it did, which is not always the case.  The disc and a half of solo piano miscellany are all as well done as the sonatas.  It's a safe, middle of the road set that could serve as an excellent introduction to these works.  Early 80s sound is superb, too.   

The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

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George

Who are your favorites for the Mozart Sonatas, Todd?
"I can't live without music, because music is life." - Yvonne Lefébure

Todd

Quote from: George on August 23, 2015, 08:09:47 AM
Who are your favorites for the Mozart Sonatas, Todd?


Endres, Kraus (mono), Klien, Pires (Denon).
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Todd




After a couple not so successful HIP Mozart sets, I can report a success.  It's not a complete set, but it's a success nonetheless.  Since I am a fan of Andras Schiff's Mozart, and his HIP Schubert, it really comes as no surprise that the HIP disc he made for the Mozart year of 1991 using Mozart's own fortepiano should fare well.  The playing and musicianship are top shelf, and the instrument sounds remarkably good.  Stylistically, it sounds as though he made few adjustments from his earlier, modern instrument approach, so true HIP fans may balk, but not me.  This is HIP Mozart done right.  I suspect that Schiff has probably changed his approach a bit in the intervening years, so I'd still like hear him record again now, but in the meantime, I have some fortepiano Mozart I can actually enjoy.  This disc comes courtesy of the L'Oiseau-Lyre big box.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Xerxes

Same thing as for Beethoven, but this time for Mozart.  I was wondering if there is anything approaching either a consensus or majority view as to what the best quality modern complete cycle of Mozart's piano sonatas might be?  By modern, I mean last 10-15 years.  Ideally, I would want the best performance/sound combination, but performance is more important.  Price is not an issue, nor is where I would have to buy.  I'm not interested in buying everything under the sun. 

At present, I have Mitsuko Uchida's cycle, but I do not like everything I hear in it.  It sounds somewhat mannered at times.

Que

#707
Welcome to the forum!  :)

You'll find all answers here, on this very thread.

"Modern" as in just a modern recording or also on a modern (20th c.) piano ?

(If both: Maria Jão Pires' 1th cycle on Denon, reissued on Brilliant Classics. I share your reservations on Uchida.)

Q

Bogey

Uchida.  Lot of help I was.
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

Xerxes

Quote from: Que on October 02, 2016, 10:08:04 AM"Modern" as in just a modern recording or also on a modern (20th c.) piano ?


Sorry, both.  I prefer modern concert grands to period instruments.

Jo498

The Endres/Arte Nova (or now Oehms) is pretty good. Zacharias' Mozart sonatas are about 30 years old by now but they are in good modern sound.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Holden

It was great to revisit this thread and read what I and others had written 10 years ago. Spotify wasn't available in 2007 but having it today allows for a lot of comparison without having to empty the wallet. I still have the Wurtz (and still listen to it) as well as some Uchida along with assorted Klien, Zacharias, Brendel, Haskil, Richter, Gilels (not mentioned often in the thread), et al.

Lili Kraus (who I had the good fortune to hear playing the complete Schubert Impromptus in concert) has really stood out for me both mono and stereo. And, I prefer the stereo version as I can hear precisely how she plays those phrases that run underneath the right hand.
Cheers

Holden

amw

I'm always keeping an eye open for high quality recordings of K576, a sonata where most pianists seem to miss the mark, and was surprised to find a very good one by Claudio Arrau (of all people!) in Tanglewood. Just on the off chance anyone else was also keeping an eye open but had somehow missed that one.

Mandryka

#713
Quote from: amw on June 17, 2017, 02:16:47 PM
I'm always keeping an eye open for high quality recordings of K576, a sonata where most pianists seem to miss the mark, and was surprised to find a very good one by Claudio Arrau (of all people!) in Tanglewood. Just on the off chance anyone else was also keeping an eye open but had somehow missed that one.

Those tanglewood performances really benefit from the Baldwin piano, which is pretty well recorded. Arrau's strong bass voicing sounds good.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

bioluminescentsquid

#714


Some comments here about Gustav Leonhardt's Mozart Sonatas on fortepiano, written a few days ago on Symphonyshare. I'm posting them here for the record and to get some thoughts.

QuoteHmmmmm this is very interesting. It's late, so I won't write much, but it seems like Leonhardt feels quite awkward here on the fortepiano. Tempos might be tastefully chosen, but transitions are clunky and so are dynamic changes. The ones in the 540 Adagio sound real clumsy and un-subtle. His harpsichord touch also doesn't really work on the fortepiano, and there are "buzzes" when he doesn't release a key cleanly especially in chords.
But I think this does sound like what would happen if someone like Rameau or Couperin played a fortepiano for the first time and tried their best to make it sound good.


Well, nice to know that Leonhardt is at the end of the day, human.

Will report back, hopefully with more positive impressions.

I promised positive impressions, but after a few listening rounds the assessment stands.

related: a quote/paraphrase of Leonhardt on Fortepianos, from this article http://www.economist.com/node/21543464
"But fortepianos were awful, the sound muffling all over the place when the hammer hit the keys, which put him off playing his beloved Mozart; and modern grands were unspeakable."

Omicron9

Greetings.

I did a search for this topic, but couldn't find anything.  What is your preference for Mozart piano sonatas (complete box set)?  And why?  I need to acquire this, but not sure which is the preferred version.  I'm leaning toward Schiff/Decca and Uchida/Philips.

Thoughts?

TIA,
-09
"Signature-line free since 2017!"

mc ukrneal

#716
The search engine here can be a bit tricky. There was a thread (quite long) here: http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,3507.0.html.

it's long, so that means there are probably conflicting recommendations. Still, should be fun! Personally, I have Wurtz and never felt the need to acquire more (it's good and I don't listen to these so often, plus I've been able to hear a few of the others in the meantime anyway), but there are multiple versions out there that are quite good.
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

ComposerOfAvantGarde

I love these pieces. Some of my favourite recordings of Mozart piano sonatas have been made by Robert Levin but unfortunately I don't think his has been released as a box set. So this is what I would go for instead:



A crisp liveliness and extremely characterful sound and musicality makes for a very complementary relationship between the musician and the instrument.

Mandryka

Quote from: Omicron9 on October 30, 2017, 03:08:08 AM
Greetings.

I did a search for this topic, but couldn't find anything.  What is your preference for Mozart piano sonatas (complete box set)?  And why?  I need to acquire this, but not sure which is the preferred version.  I'm leaning toward Schiff/Decca and Uchida/Philips.

Thoughts?

TIA,
-09

What you should do is this. Buy Siegbert Rampe's Mozart on MDG.  listen to it a few times, and then report back here about what it's like, whether there's a good ROI etc.

Then do the same for Colin Tilney's.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

amw

Lili Kraus (Erato or Music & Arts; not Sony) (no K533/494) recorded the best available set imo due to quality of piano touch and sensitivity to Mozart's idiom, along with Jos van Immerseel's 2CD set of the piano works from 1782-1789 on Sony/Vivarte, for similar reasons. Also worth considering: Kristian Bezuidenhout, Paul Badura-Skoda (Naïve/Astrée), the single Robert Levin disc, Claudio Arrau's Mozart recital from Tanglewood (M&A). Avoid: almost all modern-instrument performers, Arthur Schoonderwoerd (interesting instruments played badly), Ludwig Sémerjian (extremely mannered to the point of being annoying).