Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Luc Devos :: Mozart: Sonatas for Fortepiano & Violin [Box Set]

Fantastic

L. Topper | 02/28/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These performances are your "period practice" performances by individuals that have made their reputations in "original instrument" performances. I am not a musician, but I can tell you that it is as enjoyable as I could ever hope for. Kuijken plays very sweetly without any vibrato as you would expect. Davos plays a fortepiano.



So far, I would say that I enjoy this performance more than Podger and Cooper. It has the flavor of being a little more small scale which is what I would expect in a small theater or salon. The playing is very fluid. The recording quality is very, very good. I have not heard any moments where the sound is over saturated. There is only the smallest hint of reverberation. It is a slightly dry sounding acoustic as if you were right there with the musicians. It is not like you are listening to the acoustic in the venue. In short, the recording absolutely serves the music in this case. It does not draw attention to itself.

The music is all that is there. The acoustics of the room do not interfere in the recording.



I know that some people do not like the sound of the fortepiano much preferring the sound of the modern piano which is clearly a superior instrument capable of so much more. I cannot argue with this. It is a matter of taste and allowing yourself to get a feeling of how the music might have sounded in Mozart's time. I doubt that Mozart would have chosen a fortepiano if he could have used the modern day piano forte, but since he did not have that choice, it is wonderful to be able to have both choices. It puts his genius in some historic context.



I will frequently go back to this recording. As expensive as this recording is, I will never regret purchasing it. Lastly, unlike so many box sets that are usually discounted and less expensive than buying each single disc separately, this set comes with all the liner notes as if you purchased each disc separately. This is becoming increasingly rare. The booklets may be the most expensive part of physically producing the discs for market."