Complete Mozart Piano Sonatas

Dear All

A very Happy New Year.

I have borrowed the complete set of piano sonatas on Phillips by Mitsuko Uchida [5CDs]. The music is tremendous. Not being familiar with Mozart, is there a better set, or should I settle with the Uchida ??.

Any help greatfully appreciated.

Yours

Paul

 

This is good value, and seems to be well regarded:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004YA0U/ref=pd_sim_cm_dp_2/202-5094808-7868614

 

Uchida is very good. I'd prefer her any time over Barenboim. Uchida is rather dark and romantic. I have the crisp and classicist Walter Klien recordings as a corrective, but you're deciding on your first set, so I'd say stick with Uchida.

 

Another vote for Uchida. I've seen her play the Violin Sonatas and her sense of fun is infectious but her ability to change mood etc is awesome. I bought the Piano Sonatas set on the strength of that. They lived up to the expectations. She seems right for Mozart.

Can't say the same for Schubert. I was lucky enough to catch her & Ian Bostridge performing the Schoene Mullerin a couple of years back at Glyndebourne. Both absolutely fabulous performers but she did try to lead rather than connect to the singing. Still, one of the best concerts I've been to.

 

Out of curiosity, I had a peep at Amazon Deutschland, where one punter said the following of Uchida's Mozart sonatas:

Ich habe viele der Mozart-Sonaten mit diesen CDs zum ersten Mal gehört und sie so langweilig gefunden, dass ich nie wieder eine von diesem Set auf den CD-Spieler gelegt hatte. Danach habe ich sämtliche Sonaten in Einspielung von Paul Badura-Skoda (Eurodisc) gekauft, und ich war so begeistert! Die Mozart-Sonaten sind in der Tat sehr spannende Musik, ich habe mir jedoch wegen der nervösen Interpretation durch Uchida ein total anderes Bild gemacht.

Quick translation - he finds Uchida such a bore that he never plays the CDs any more. He likes Paul Badura-Skoda.

The next review gives her 5 stars! You can't please everyone...

 

Personally I think, that you can't do with just one recording of these splendid works. I prefer (of course) the sonatas played on period instruments, and I own Brautigam (BIS) and Bilson(Hungaroton), but I have as modern corrective got both Klien (Vox) and the very cheap and good Wuertz (Brilliant records).
All these four sets are (would I say) classical in approach, as they should be , but still somewhat different in details.
I have heard Uchida playing the D-major sonata (only that one). and she seems to make much substance of the music, avoiding the tendency of some others to make it elegant and harmless, and she is surely rather interesting if perhaps a little romantic. So you are probably well served with her, but need at least one more recording, and Klien or Wuertz are good and cheap supplements.
Venlig hilsen

 

And for something completely different (and notorious), try Glenn Gould.

I know, I know... but in some odd perverted way I find his playing quite fascinating in these works.


Regards,

L.

 

Yes, Gould, but the speed should be increased to avoid boredom. Is there a way to speed up my CD player - should I try increasing the voltage or would that blow up the fuse?

 

Having heard the lions share of his Bach and Beethoven, I do
not want to hear more eccentricities from his go(u)lden
fingers.

 

Gould didn't even like Mozart.

It's as close to a send up as it gets.

 

Indeed, it was a deliberate travesty from Gould's part. That is exactly why I feel odd to find his readings so 'interesting'.


Regards,

L.

 

I don't especially either. Maybe I should listen to Gould

 

I don't know if you caught the recent recitals of Mozart's piano sonatas on R3 by various young pianists - overall good to very good, but Uchida finds a depth in the music which eludes most other pianists.

 

I havent heard these but Mitsuko Uchida is a great exponent of mozart IMO. Should be worth keeping.

 

I've just realised that Radio 3 are broadcasting more of the Mozart piano sonatas next week - around 9 / 9.30pm each evening.

 

If I understood right (my German is rather ... let's say vague) I quite agree that Uchida is terribly dramatic - almost obscenely expressive. Seeing her playing live was a nightmare, for me. And yes, I do not think they are a very good introduction.

But then... I don't like most of them either.

Re Gould: he quite liked to play things he did not like only to show how ugly they were. Now, as he seems to do the same with Bach, can one think that he did not like the WTC or the Partitas?

I know this is seting fire to an otherwise quite normal thread, so, please, do not reply. I just could not refrain myself

:JPS:

 

Having some years ago investigated most of Goulds Beethoven and Bach in detail, I would never consider him a serious contender in Mozart.
My preferred version is the Denon recording by M J Pires (rereleased by Brilliant Classics), which IMO strikes the right balance between elegance and expessivity. Relistening to Würtz has convinced me, that she is a tad too correct and a little lacking in poetry as compared to Pires.

 

One of my top 5 pianists. Her Beethoven is sublime.

 

Certainly. I hope, she some day will get the chance to record a complete Beethoven cycle.

 

Has M-J Pires recorded a complete Mozart? I have her in three of the sonatas on DG, and like it a lot.