Credits:

Various

Description:

A recording of the complete sonatas completed by a leading Mozart researcher and performer on Mozart's favorite fortepiano. Pianist Robert Levin, known as a leading Mozart scholar, has recorded Mozart's piano sonatas in their entirety for the first time on Mozart's own fortepiano (Anton Walter, 1782). This 7-CD box set also includes Mozart's unfinished fragments, but here Levin himself has completed them, taking into account Mozart's idiom and the compositional forms of the time. Levin's interpretation of the piano sonatas is based on the performance conventions of the Viennese school of music, incorporating improvisational elements and repeated ornamentation, and the 100-page booklet (in German and English) includes an essay by Mozarteum director and Mozart expert Ulrich Reisinger The 100-page booklet (in German and English) includes an essay on the sonatas and instruments, a record of the performer Levin, and Mozart's autograph score. One of the key questions when interpreting classical period music is what is the true meaning of repetition. Of course, in a narrow sense, it means to go back and play what was played before. However, we know that the ornamentation of repeats was an important element in 18th century performance. If you look at Mozart's sonatas, you can see that this issue was central to his conception," Levin explains.C.P.E. Bach, a major influence on Mozart, stated in the preface to his 1759 book Sonatas with Various Repetitions that "repeated ornamentation is essential in our time" and "is expected of all performers." Levin applies that description to Mozart's sonatas, which treat repetition freely, using melody, accompaniment, and even brief interpolations (material added between musical phrases), with harmonic details altered as needed. He also takes a historical approach to the sonatas, completing movements of sonatas that Mozart never completed. Levin approaches the composition of this fragment with a deep knowledge and understanding of Mozart's language and the musical terminology of the time. Of the Sonata in C major, K 42 (35a), Levin states. In this jaunty three-beat fragment, the piece breaks off at bar 25, leaving us with the main and secondary melody. It would be obvious that the piece is cut off at the beginning of the sequence leading to the coda. My completion attempts to maintain the uplifting and frank character of this movement." The fortepiano's limited width (approximately 100 cm) and attention to detail allow the woodiness of the instrument to stand out and give the sonata a transparent sound that is characteristic of Mozart's sonatas.This piano was probably made by Anton Gabriel Walter in 1782, and Mozart expert and Mozarteum Director Ulrich Reisinger described it in his liner notes as "notable for its silvery sound, rich in overtones, and its bass, which is surprisingly clear compared to the sound of a modern concert grand piano. The bass is remarkably clear compared to the sound of modern concert grand pianos. Mozart used this fortepiano from 1785 onward. Universal Music/IMS

Tracklisting:

1.Sonata movement in C major
2.Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major K. 279 (189d)~Allegro
3.Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major K. 279 (189d)~Andante
4.Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major K. 279 (189d)~Allegro
5.Piano Sonata No. 2 in F major K. 280 (189e)~Allegro assai
6.Piano Sonata No. 2 in F major K. 280 (189e)~Adagio
7.Piano Sonata No. 2 in F major K. 280 (189e)~Presto
8.Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-flat major K. 281 (189f)~Allegro
9.Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-flat major K. 281 (189f)~Andante amoroso
10.Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-flat major K. 281 (189f)~Rondeau. Allegro