Review: Robert Levin Imaginatively Recreates Mozart's Piano Sonatas

Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas. Robert Levine (on Mozart's Own Fortepiano) ECM (7 discs)

[@joshuafruend3348]

I am so happy that you made a review on this, Mr. Hurwitz! I'm a Levin guy all the way. I try my best to emulate the enlivening of the music that he does with ornamentation in my own piano playing. I cannot wait to get this set. I'm curious, what are your thoughts on Levin's completions of Mozart's c minor Mass and the Requiem? I think they're just brilliant and, like you said, he really knows Mozart to make it sound just like him.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I don't much care for either work, to be honest. and his completions don't do anything for me.

[@jg5861]

YES! I've been listening to it since the day it became available and I am totally delighted in every way! This really is one of the best sets of any music one can get to know and absorb!

[@karlmeans8781]

Revelatory, for sure. CPE Bach's comments aside, I imagine that Mozart himself would have elaborated in the repeats. Brilliant release!

[@bojancicic5453]

Hello Dave, I wondered if you had a chance to listen to Robert Levin's new recordings with the Academy of Ancient Music performing Mozart's keyboard concertos. There were three releases so far, with two more coming out very soon, completing the cycle of Mozart's works for keyboard and orchestra, which Robert Levin started in the 90s with the AAM.

[@michaelshulman5068]

Maybe five years ago I attended a lecture on the history of piano construction and manufacturing, at the University of Michigan School of Music. (No, I wasn't a student there.) That lecture wasn't directly applicable to this talk, since it was mostly about Steinway, but it was fascinating for me to learn that there are academics whose historical specialty is the history of musical instrument manufacture.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Oh yes. One of the best such scholars is a member of New York Chapter of the American Musicological Society and he has given several interesting talks on the subject.

[@CaradhrasAiguo49]

You put into words exactly what I was thinking about Brautigam: "fluid cantabile". I have said "flowing" elsewhere but of course you describe it much better

[@epicemuchilz]

Oh my goodness, thank you for pointing out this release. The interpretations of Levin are absolutely brilliant. I don't want to ruin it for anybody (warning: the following can not be unheard) but the sniffing and breathing of Levin is annoying. They should have put something over his head like they did with Glenn Gould. Absolutely blown away by his playing though. Pure genius.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Yeah, he's a sniffer.

[@boonyboony100]

I've listened to 4 of the sonatas and haven't yet heard a sniff.

[@quinto34]

Like my Brautigam set..although I'm not the greatest forte piano fan, this sounds quite interesting, thanks!

[@vilebrequin6923]

A treasure trove!

[@zdl1965]

Wow, another Mozart piano sonata box-set to buy! Just bought the Bezuidenhout set at budget price (Harmonia Mundi). How does that compare with the full-priced Levin or Brautigam sets? Should one splash the cash for yet another set? (Stupid question, really.) Choices, choices, choices ...

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Brautigam is not full price--it's 10 discs for the price of 4. I like both Levin and Brautigam much better than Bezuidenhout, who almost always strikes me as randomly mannered.

[@Don-md6wn]

The Levin set is available at less than half the list price at Amazon U.S., at least for now.

[@zdl1965]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Thanks for the tips! Looks like more lucre to be spent in a hurry!

[@zdl1965]

@@Don-md6wn Thanks, it's good to know!

[@ManuManu-lm6xh]

Generally speaking, I also prefer Haydn over Mozart when it comes to piano sonatas. And I suspect it’s because Mozart gives great interpretation problems. Richter, in his own words, couldn’t come to terms with Mozart’s sonatas, while he loved Haydn’s sonatas. Also Arrau had serious problems with Mozart. He cancelled several Mozart cycles during his career, and only in his 80’s he tackled the sonatas. A recording that I love. There are many videos on KZbin of Levin discussing Mozart, and one can conclude that he really knows his Mozart. So thanks for the recommendation, I’ll listen to this new recording with great expectations.

[@Don-md6wn]

I have the BIS boxes of Brautigam playing the Mozart sonatas and variations, but can't resist this box at barely over $30, over half off the list price. It's rare to see a new ECM recording discounted like that. I don't think the modern piano versus period piano is an either/or proposition and enjoy both in music from Haydn and Mozart to Beethoven, Schubert and Chopin.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I agree. It's the player that matters more than the instrument.

[@paulfussey6743]

Wow, where did you see this for $30? That's a real bargain!

[@dennischiapello3879]

I have never warmed to the piano sonatas--with the major exception on the D Major, K576. In most of them the melodic aspect seems bland to me. (Haydn is never bland!) I could never understand why they couldn't be as wonderful as the Concertos. But maybe one of these recordings will be just what I need to learn to enjoy them. Maybe they'll also help me learn to like the sound of a fortepiano!

[@boonyboony100]

Hi Dennis, What is it that stands out in the K576 sonata for you? Regards from Australia

[@dennischiapello3879]

@@boonyboony100 The best I can articulate it is that it seems more inventive than others of Mozart’s. It certainly has more life and spontaneity. Just the absence of an Alberti base (even in the slow movement!) is like a breath of fresh air. The prominent use of counterpoint is a feature much commented upon, and it definitely lends the work a sense of sophistication. I think the virtuoso element is quite brilliant, especially in the third movement. I wish Mozart had written more in this vein for piano. The Gigue, K.574 is another pearl. It seems to me Mozart was on the verge of a stylistic revolution when he died. (Thanks so much for asking, and giving me the opportunity to “hold forth.”)

[@MrInterestingthings]

Wow! The one sonata K.576 that seems just a bunch of triplets even the slow mov. hasn't reached me.I complain that Mozart's melodies in quartets,quintets,symphonies and esp. the violin and piano sonatasare always attractive when not suddenly magical unlike Hadyn.I listened to at least 2 dozen Hadyn Symphonies some good stuff but you know the harmonies before u hear them.InMozart somehow even the obvious comes out better ! .Only Hadyn seems"bland,standardizedwout personality or communicative import/. automatically following rules (very closed bland 18th century ones)

[@dennischiapello3879]

@@MrInterestingthings "Seems just a bunch of triplets." Do you have a musical ear at all?

[@2tardi]

Thanks for explaining the issues with old instruments. Is this the reason not every Stradivari has a great sound? Mozart is nice but is not as varied as Haydn. Mozart influenced Haydn clearly (and vice versa), but Haydn sound more complete. Sorry, this is just my taste!

[@stevenmsinger]

To be honest, isn't it a bit of a gimmick to play Mozart's piano sonatas on forte piano at all? Just use a modern piano. It sounds so much better! However, that being said, the forte piano used in these recordings is perfectly acceptable and Levine plays exceptionally well. As David says in the video, it is the way he plays the repeats that make this recording special! It really is something to hear!

[@garrysmodsketches]

In my opinion these fortepianos have such a unique and nice sound, different registers of the instrument have different colors, overall sound feels warmer than modern concert grand, all the chords have a clear sound, when on a modern steinway thick chords tend to sound muddy. I recommend listening to Schubert's piano trio op. 100, recorded by Atlantis trio. A bit different era from Mozart of course, but still, this recording fully shows the color and the charm of that keyboard instrument.

[@FrostDirt]

Perhaps a little gimmicky, but Levin has made statements and arguments for using the fortepiano.