Special offer. Mozart: Piano Sonatas
Alicia de Larrocha (piano)
London Sinfonietta, David Zinman
de Larrocha's 1970s Mozart sonatas for Decca are always elegant, at times sparkling, only occasionally gripping. Pleasant pastel shades dominate, with limited drama and inward poetry.
Special offer. Mozart: Piano Sonatas
Alicia de Larrocha (piano)
London Sinfonietta, David Zinman
Purchase product
de Larrocha's 1970s Mozart sonatas for Decca are always elegant, at times sparkling, only occasionally gripping. Pleasant pastel shades dominate, with limited drama and inward poetry.
About
Alicia de Larrocha made several LPs of Mozart’s solo piano music for Decca between 1973 and 1986. In a series of recordings on Decca Eloquence, reissued to celebrate her artistry, this 3CD set brings together, for the first time, all her solo Mozart – nine sonatas, the D major Rondo, and the D minor and C minor Fantasias (both recordings of the C minor – 1973 and 1986 are included in this set). The CDs are filled out with her two Haydn recordings for Decca – the F minor Variations and the D major Concerto. The booklet includes colour reproductions of four of the LP sleeves pertaining to this release.
Contents and tracklist
Work length13:15
- Alicia de Larrocha (piano)
- Recorded: 1976-01
- Recording Venue: Kingsway Hall, London
- Alicia de Larrocha (piano)
- Recorded: 1976-01
- Recording Venue: Kingsway Hall, London
- Alicia de Larrocha (piano)
- Recorded: 1976-01-08
- Recording Venue: Kingsway Hall, London
- Alicia de Larrocha (piano)
- Recorded: 1976-01
- Recording Venue: Kingsway Hall, London
Awards and reviews
November 2014
de Larrocha's 1970s Mozart sonatas for Decca are always elegant, at times sparkling, only occasionally gripping. Pleasant pastel shades dominate, with limited drama and inward poetry.
April 1975
refreshing … what a lovely Mozartian touch she has – each individual note glistens … each one of the variations [in KV 331] is very keenly characterized … Good marks to the engineers for such limpid tonal reproduction
December 1976
played with grace and refinement [Haydn Variations] … considerable warmth of feeling is apparent
January 1981
It is not easy to make Mozart’s earlier sonatas sound more than accomplished and fluent, but this great Spanish artist brings out all the tenderness and humanity of this unpretentious little work [KV 282]; and she plays the great A minor with a sense of commitment and understanding that is far more telling than the stormy, melodramatic approach adopted by many lesser pianists
March 1979
effortless … this doyenne of Spanish pianists knows how to tap the lyrical source to so much of Mozart’s invention and how to sing like a nightingale. She invites us to listen; but her tone of voice is never over-insistent. … All credit to Decca for the warm and lifelike sound
September 1987
[Larrocha] plays the Mozart sonatas with great authority and conviction … she seems to see this C minor drama through Beethoven’s sturdy eyes.
