Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K310

In its prodigious diversity, a blend of lightheartedness and sharpness, elegance and severity, Mozart’s music is the mirror of his life, which was marked by a succession of harrowing crises and wonderful breakthroughs. Moreover, he himself said he was constantly torn between anguish and joy. In 1778, while he was staying in Paris and in a sad and sombre mood, Mozart composed several piano sonatas, including the dramatic K.310 Sonata, written in that key of A minor which Alfred Einstein said was the key of desolation, the celebrated K.331 Sonata, in the French style and ending famously with its joyous rondo Alla turca (with a coda added in 1784), and the K.333 Sonata over which hovers the shade of Johann Christian Bach, youngest son of Johann Sebastian, to whom Mozart was bound in sincere friendship.

Completed on 20 May 1785, the tragic Fantasia in C minor, K.475, was published under Mozart’s supervision in the same year, together with the Sonata in C minor, K.457. This seemingly free and improvisatory but in fact cleverly constructed work comprises several sections in which lyrical episodes of striking pathos mingle with tormented passages with intense emotional content. The variety of Mozart’s thought and the boldness of his harmonies are here quite exceptional.

Two famous LPs on CD. Excellent sound quality.

“Brendel’s 1968 performance of No. 9 is quite outstanding, elegant and beautifully precise….orchestra is just right…the performance of No. 14 is also first rate… a memorably vivacious finale. Outstanding re-issue with natural sound….clean remastering.” Penguin Guide

“This concerto (K271), described by Brendel as one of the wonders of the world and a vision of everything the classical piano could become, was also a favourite of Busoni. In a recent interview Brendel admitted that he struggled with Mozart in early years but found the key to its interpretation during the Fischer master classes he attended as an 18 year old (playing the K310 Sonata).” James Murray

Dutch pianist Stanley Hoogland was a pioneer in the research and performance of the fortepiano in the early 1970’s. Since then he has become a frequent concert performer and currently teaches at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague and Amsterdam.

2 CDs for 1

The Chopin Sonata No. 3 from BRIDGE9276A/D has been included again in order to present the complete recital in the order in which Ms. Reisenberg performed it.