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CD recording of Mozart sonatas for violin and keyboard, vol. 5

This final CD in my series surveying the complete mature works for violin and piano includes the rarely played Sonata in F major, K 547. I continue to replace an anachronistic, Romantic, lyrical stance that seemingly prevails over current performances, with a more rhetorical and vitally-engaged interpretation. This approach is a more accurate representation of eighteenth-century performance styles and aesthetics, as described in such treatises of the time as those by CPE Bach (1753) DG Türk (1789) & L Mozart (1756/87) and in contemporary letters and literature.

The CD was preceded by a number of concert cycles of the sonatas both in the UK and throughout Europe, some using original eighteenth-century instruments and some using reproduction instruments. The more intimate character of the Classical piano sound strengthens my decision to emphasize articulation rather than the lyrical elements. This not only gives the music more surface detail and emotional range, but also allows more apparent contrasts to be heard. The speed at which the fortepiano, inherently drier in timbre, juxtaposes opposing dynamic extremes created interpretations that were radically different from accepted traditions. For the recording, I used a piano by Christopher Clarke (1988), an exact copy of a Walter of 1795, very similar to Mozart’s Vienna instrument from the last years of his life. The violin used was a Grancino (1709) set up in an appropriate manner for late eighteenth-century repertoire. The ensemble balance is consequently much more even than that of their modern descendants.

The disc has been widely disseminated, receiving conspicuous critical comment. The BBC Music Magazine commented specifically in a review of this disc that the performances (and those on previous discs) present a different approach, which changes perceptions of the repertoire and of other, more conventional performances of it. It is regularly played internationally on radio stations.