Christian Blackshaw: Mozart: Piano Sonatas Volume 3 | Album Review

Mozart: Piano Sonatas Vol 3 Christian BlackshawWigmore Hall Live WHLive 0076/2 (2 CDs)4

Mozart Piano Sonatas Vol 3
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Artist: Christian Blackshaw, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Genre: Classical
Label: Wigmore Hall Live

Christian Blackshaw continues his survey of Mozart's piano sonatas in the style of the previous instalments.He treats four sonatas (K284, K332, K545, K457) and the Fantasy in C minor, K475, as if he is trying to exemplify the descriptions Mozart's contemporaries left of the composer's own playing and musical preferences. The concentration is on lightness and precision, taste and expression, grace and elegance. Some people may find the expressive undulations and dynamic inclines simply too mild. And although the sense of fantasy is less keen than in the first two volumes, the goal – the kind of sensitivity which ensured that when Mozart himself performed his playing "went straight to the heart" – is largely well met. url.ie/fa5t

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan is a music critic and Irish Times contributor