Customer Reviews

Mozart: Piano Sonatas (Complete Mozart Edition, Vol. 17)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Believe it or not, I own the gigantic Complete Mozart Collection by Phillips. I bought it soon after it was released a decade ago. Sometimes I wonder if maybe I should have spent the money on something else, but then I would not have been exposed to ALL of Mozart's amazing piano pieces.

One of the highlights of the gigantic collection is Mitsuko Uchida's stunning interpretation of Mozart's piano sonatas and variations. There's that "something extra" in her interpretations that takes the pieces to the ultimate level. I own other Mozart piano variations by other players and have heard others on the radio. Others are very good, but I have yet to hear one that captures this magic. Brendel's, by example, sound cold and mechanistically exact.

Mitsuko Uchida's interpretation is just astonishing. Her touch, timing and feeling is just impacting. It's like falling in love with the most beautiful person in the world. If you play these while driving your car, don't be surprised if you find yourself sitting in your car after you have parked to hear a piece all the way to the finish, and almost feeling your heart pounding with emotion. I am most grateful to have these piano sonatas in my daily life.

Some of the later sonatas, such as K570 and K545, are absolutely stunning.

Indeed, this collection was given the highest rating possible and the rare rosette designation from the Penguin Guide to Classical Music. THE authority has weighed in with the mark of a masterpiece recording.

From my perspective, Mozart's piano works for solo or smaller ensembles (sonatas, variation, trios, etc.) represent nearly his finest works for everyday living. Experts rank his concertos, symphonies and operas (all with large ensembles) as his greatest works, but my experience is that his piano works for smaller ensembles and solo are masterpieces on their own. I have been listening to Mozart's complete works for a decade, and I personally enjoy his piano works the most for my own listening pleasure.

I also very highly recommend the MOZART: PIANO VARIATIONS collection. Very highly! The piano trios and quartets are great, too.

I think it's very sad that these Mozart pieces are not so well known. They are masterpieces of great beauty.

I remember one time when I told a friend's wife about these Mozart piano recordings. Her father was a professional concert pianist, and she plays piano really well. She owns two excellent pianos - one grand and one upright. I told her about these recordings, and she said she did not care much for Mozart piano pieces - she did not know much about Mozart - and that Beethoven was her favorite.

So I made her a couple tape recordings of these Mozart sonatas and the variations as a sample, and a month later she told me she was completely blown away. Several years later I ran into her, and she said she was still listening to Mozart on piano and was so grateful for introducing Mozart piano works into her life. Mozart is now her favorite.

I wish everyone could enjoy them.

Other pianists that I have heard play the Mozart Piano Sonatas as if they were the proverbial "bull" in the "china" shop, fearfully, but then along comes Mitsuko Uchida and gracefully, and BOLDLY she SOARS over that enchanted landscape. Glorious! Much more that five stars!

While I have not heard all of the Mozart sonatas performed by Mitsuko Uchida, I have heard enough to realize, that her interpretation and style are without equal.

There is something so wonderous about her playing, such warmth, such joy, and such clarity. Whatever sonata you are listening to, somehow, you just know that this is the way it is supposed to be played, period.

I first read of Mozart's piano sonata recordings by Uchida in the highly-acclaimed Penguin Guide to Classical Music. The Penguin Guide to Classical Music is, in my opinion, the most authoritative guide. The guide gave these recordings a perfect score and the prestigious, rare Rosetta designation, which means that the recordings are beyond a perfect score. It means, in the opinion of the editors, that the recordings are unusually sublime.

I am writing here that I agree.

Uchida's reading on this CD is simply put, without an equal. As stated in the essay in the booklet with this recording, some Mozart sonatas are easily played well. Uchida is effortless. She clearly ranks up there as one of the greatest living pianists. I would also suggest to the serious listener her recordings of the complete Schubert solo piano pieces. They too are exquisite. Phillips, as usual, has provided another engineering masterpiece. I will probably wear out these CD's.

These recordings contain some of the most wonderful, beautiful music ever written, played gorgeously by a true artist. A person who is familiar with this music will find no better recording; a person who is not familiar will better for hearing it.

Fabulous collection! There's enough beautiful music in these discs to keep you busy for quite some time. But hurry; there's more Mozart to get to!

Mozart's generally underappreciated sonatas are here performed by Uchida. She does a credible job but having heard some of the other famous versions of this, I'm just not convinced that her version is an overwhelming achievement. There's something about Uchida's playing, though I can't quite put a finger on it, that fails to inspire. Technically she is brilliant but it often seems that she's playing on paper-thin slivers of delicate china.

As for the Penguin Guides, yes, Uchida is given a rosette for this playing, but as it takes just one of the Guide writers to award a rosette, it doesn't mean unanimity.

This is a clarification of my previous review of February 5, 2000. I should have stated that some Mozart piano concerti are NOT easily played well.