Classical Music Forum banner

Favorite Mozart piano sonatas and recordings

29K views 55 replies 26 participants last post by  hpowders 
#1 · (Edited)
I've been listening to K283, which is one that I'd never really heard, and my hunch that they are all really good is better confirmed. They aren't talked about very much. What are your favorite Mozart piano sonatas and who is your favorite performer. Lets dig up some that aren't as talked about. For example, I love K533 in F major, which isn't mentioned as often to my knowledge.

I like Uchida's performances and Malcolm Bilson on fortepiano, from the recordings I've heard of his.
 
#5 ·
My favorite procedure is when the pianist, or failing that the recording, plays K.475 with K.457 immediately following. In general I prefer the late sonatas to, for instance, the Paris ones. My favorite sets are those by Lili Kraus and Christoff Eschenbach. Kraus plays them with 'the conventional wisdom', very well. Eschenbach makes them stronger somehow.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kieran
#7 · (Edited)
- Sonata in c, no.14 K457, the only I tend to listen to regularly.

Will be checking K310 due to the mentioning here.

Among the minor piano works,
- the Fantasias in C-Major K 394, d-minor K397 & c-minor K 475
- Rondo in a K511
- Adagio in b, K540

Among the interpreters: Zacharias/MDG (http://www.amazon.com/Works-Piano-Fantasias-Rondos-Other/dp/B00004LMPR, got mixed reviews), Maria Yudina (, ), Würtz in K457; Samuil Feinberg (), and some others. Walter Klien´s old recordings for Vox and Vox-Candide are also often good. Gould for a - radical - change in the Fantasias.

But have investigated the solo works less in depth than the concertos.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I like the records Arrau made when he was at the height of his powers, there's a live Mozart recital on Orfeo for example, which I think is amazing. Also a Video record on VAI with a 310.

Richter recorded all the sonatas you mentioned really well, especially in the performances which come from late n his career. Generally I think the Russian pianists have had an interesting take on Mozart. I'm thinking mainly of Gilels (there's some wonderful Mozart from him on Testament), Richter, Yudina, Sokolov (let me know if you can't find it) amd Lubimov.

For the earlier sonatas, I've enjoyed Deszo Ranki more than anyone else, on a Hungaroton CD. And Paul Badura Skoda.
 
#9 ·
I have Mitsuko playing these and I'm partial to all of them, and they all bring something different. The 8th (a-minor) and all of them from #14(c-minor) to his death are great sonatas. I think a lot of people come onto them from the main thoroughfare of Beethoven's piano sonatas, and expecting something the same, leave thinking that Wolfie's are slight in comparison.

K576 is possibly my favourite, or K533/494, especially that distracted, disturbed slow movement...
 
#10 ·
[...]
I think a lot of people come onto them from the main thoroughfare of Beethoven's piano sonatas, and expecting something the same, leave thinking that Wolfie's are slight in comparison.
[...]
My (incredibly astute) analysis of that tendency rests on the opinion that Mozart never fully utilized the potential provided by the dynamics available from pianos built after ~1780. Some of his sonatas after that date were 'serious' enough... even without the, ah, assertiveness that Beethoven exhibited in the 1790s.
 
#14 ·
I'm not going to argue about the accuracy of your assumption. At TC such discussions easily approach the part of the map containing the words: "Here dragons dwell".

:cool:
 
#15 · (Edited)
I love Mozart's Piano Sonatas more than Beethoven's. I probably have more recordings of them than I do anything else. A year or two ago I went through and compared all the complete cycles and many incomplete cycles. In the end the set I found most perfect across the board was the very hard to find Ingrid Haebler set on Denon from Japan. It was her second cycle. Her first on Philips I wasn't a fan of and it's amazing to see how she grew into these works. Still one of the most amazing sets I've heard.

Klara Wurtz does a nice job. I also like Alicia De Larrocha and Christoph Eschenbach on the whole. Schiff, Uchida and Pires I like on some and don't on others, sometimes based on phrasing others based on choice of tempo. Barenboim I can't take much of. Jando is a mixed bag. Arrau plays them completely differently than anyone else (it took me a long time to even understand what he was doing) but in the end while interesting, I don't find them to be what I feel is "correct" for lack of a better term.

I could go on and on about different recordings but those are usually the more commonly mentioned ones.

I've spent more time with Mozart's Sonatas than I can even imagine and I will never understand why they are so frequently overlooked. I find them all absolutely fascinating.
 
#44 ·
I love Mozart's Piano Sonatas more than Beethoven's.
What an interesting statement! But I suppose it's on a par with something I often say: "I'll give you all Beethoven's symphonies for one of his sonatas or string quartets."

What about Clementi? His piano sonatas are well worth trying, though I must admit I haven't worked my way through my set yet. Don't believe Mozart's description of Clementi as a "mere mechanicus". That was clearly a case of spiteful professional jealousy.
 
#17 · (Edited)
I found an amazing Kristian Zimmerman recording on youtube of K 281 in B flat:


I thought Uchida's or Klara Wurtz were excellent, but this brings out something more vibrant and colorful. I wasn't initially that drawn to this sonata, but you can sort of find the magic in any of them with the right recording. I love that finale though, very cute.
 
#29 · (Edited)
This Gould recording of the 2nd sonata(K280 in F major) has become a favorite, even though he is a bit cheeky with his backwards arppegio in the development section, he brings so much personality to the piece, and curiously my 2nd favorite recording is by another Bach interpreter, Andras Schiff. Maybe the piece does well with the touch of a Bachian pianist. Sokolov also gives it a good go, and he's great at French Baroque in his curious way.

 
#31 ·
One of my absolute favorite Mozart sonatas for keyboard is the kv332 in f. I can not imagine listening to it anyone other than a man who is most criticized for his Mozart, however. Yup, you guessed it. But it's true!! Anyone else just sounds like a first year piano student playing this and I'm talking so-called big names like Uchida. Anyway, if you haven't heard it by him, here it is:



A surprising performer whom I seldom like playing anything is Horrorwitz, yet I really love his approach to Mozart; sonatas, at least.
 
#35 ·
One of my absolute favorite Mozart sonatas for keyboard is the kv332 in f. I can not imagine listening to it anyone other than a man who is most criticized for his Mozart, however. Yup, you guessed it. But it's true!! Anyone else just sounds like a first year piano student playing this and I'm talking so-called big names like Uchida. Anyway, if you haven't heard it by him, here it is:

That humming, haha.
 
#33 ·
How about Schnabel's Mozart K. 570? It's impossible for me to talk about my "favorite" Mozart piano sonatas. Only sonata I definitely wouldn't put on the list is the K. 545. How many lousy performances by kids have you heard of that piece?! I have alot of respect and love for Paul Badura Skoda's performances formerly on the Astree label. There are a couple of the mid to later sonatas I like with Brendel (K. 331 through K. 333, K475).
 
G
#36 · (Edited)
From a purely audio stand point, Robert Silverman's on the IsoMike label (named after their proprietary microphone arrangement) is hard to beat, but it's expensive and requires a multi-channel SACD system to fully appreciate its realism:



Oh yes, his playing is good, too! :)
 
#41 · (Edited)
Gould is great fun in K331, 310, 457. In K330 there's a mono recording which I much prefer to the stereo remake which comes in the Sony box. He's much slower in the first recording of K330. Gould was clear that he too prefered the first recording, he effectively said that he chose to play it like he did in the stereo recording randomly, for no artistic reason, just to be different (it's in one of the fake mock joke interviews he published, it's somewhere in The Gould Reader)

Maybe best of all are the fantasies, K475 and above all K394. K394 may well be just Bulldog's sort of thing, because he plays the fantasy tough - pounding out the repeated octaves like a sledge hammer. There are also two very fine live sonata performances on orfeo, from Salzburg concerts.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top