Get me excited about Mozart piano music!

[kriskicksass]

I'm looking for particularly engaging solo piano pieces of Mozart to get into. I'm in love with a few of his concertos, and I think it's time I branched off into the sonatas or something. While you're at it, any favorite recordings?

[molto-marcato]

Dou you actually want to play Mozert piano music or just listen to the recordings? If you want to learn popular Mozart sonatas i'd suggest Sonata A-major KV331 and the following in F-major (which i like better but A-major is much more popular). Try both of the Fantasies too. For recordings i have a few videos of recitals of Horowitz and Fazil Say. Both do some beatiful things, though very differently. Think you can even find them on Youtube.

[nicco]

Look at the video of Horowitz in Vienna playing Mozart sonata K.333. Thats what got me into Mozart The 3rd movement is amazing.

[dabbler]

I took me a bit to get excited about them, too. A couple of years ago I was joking about all the "boring" Alberti basses. But now I really love most of the sonatas. There are also true gems among the lesser known (if you can say so from any Mozart sonata after all) ones. For example, check out the G major K283 - it's really great and has so much energy in it. Also, to get you excited I'd highly recommend Gulda's "Mozart tapes" recording. It has mediocre recording quality, but the playing is simply marvellous IMO. For quite some time, I mostly listened to Andras Schiffs Mozart sonatas, but the Gulda is much more direct and vigorous. Besides the sonatas, there are also some cute rondi to check out...

[opus10no2]

CHICKS

DIG

MOZART

Enjoy the fruits of your labour 

[el nino]

look for lang lang's kv 330 and a recording of d minor fantasy,that piece is so deep and beautiful

[burstroman]

Check out the masterpiece Rondo in a minor, K.511, and the Gigue in g major, K.574. 

[soliloquy]

K. 573

[invictious]

The one in Bb flat Major (570), typical Mozart, once you get that, you get most of Mozart.

It's slightly difficult though, but not too challenging. The difficult really, is to not play any wrong notes. A wrong note in mozart = extremely obvious.

[sharon_f]

Also look at some of his variations. Some of my faves are:

12 Variations on "Ah, vous dirai-je maman", K. 265
9 Variations on a minuet by Duport, K. 573
6 Variations on "Salve tu, Domine", K. 398
and 10 Variations on Gluck's "Unser dummer Pöbel meint", K. 455, which I am currently finishing up on. (There's a very nice video on Google of this set.)

[Mozartian]

My absolute favorite sonata of his is the k. 332, it's just amazing. One of these days I'm going to really learn it well, heh.

The a minor sonata (k. 310) of course is an absolute masterpiece as well, and k. 330 is utterly charming.

Enjoy your forray into Mozart!

[pianistimo]

murray perahia is my favorite mozart artist so far.  but, i've heard that if you want to hear perfection - cassedesus (sp?) was really great in several of the piano concertos - esp. cadenzas. 

i think mozart is more fluid if you hold the bass (lowest note) of the alberti note clusters - and allow the chord to 'meld.'  this is a little trick that you do - after you learn specifically not to in undergrad work.  it's like - you learn all the rules - simply to break them occasionally.  this makes mozart more fluid and beautiful.

i think, also, listening to birds, and nature was one of mozart's favorite pastimes.  even voices.  and ideas.  stories.  he was extremely inventive and creative.  things ran wild in his imagination.  for a good read - look into his work with da ponte (the librettist) - as he had some interesting stories (the memoirs he wrote, i believe) about mozart.  he ended up outliving mozart by quite a few years and actually moved to nyc where he had a store or something. 

dear sharon_f - i'd like to hear your 'gluck variations' sometime.  i don't recall ever hearing those.

[minstrel]

Rondo alla Turca is decent.

[pianistimo]

yeah.  i'll play it for you right now.  in the audition room.  then you'll wish you blew your head off before you did that.  (seriously - i think i play it pretty well).

[klick]

SNORE!

I find 90% of his Piano music so boring even by the best of performers. Only the C Major and B-flat Major Sonatas have struck my interest, so I would start there if your looking for a sonata.

[pianistimo]

that is because you are tired of him.  but, for someone who has never played that much mozart - you can find a lot of 'personality' in mozart.  he was a sort of effervescent personality and saw right through things.  shakespeare, mozart, timelessness, classical beauty.

now i shall play the C major - to crowds of adulating fans (in my dreams).  i know - hardly any people will come to hear mozart these days unless you live in vienna.  somebody - take me to vienna for a summer.

ok.  back to the audition room.

[iumonito]

SNORE!

I find 90% of his Piano music so boring even by the best of performers. Only the C Major and B-flat Major Sonatas have struck my interest, so I would start there if your looking for a sonata.

You have no idea what you are missing.  The good thing is with time you have a fighting chance or discovering something that will touch your heart like nothing else.  It usually happens with a few measures that just get to you, for example the piano entrance of K. 415.

For performers, I like Edwin Fisher and Paul Badura-Skoda.  Live, I have heard no better than Judit Jaimes.

[kelly_kelly]

dear sharon_f - i'd like to hear your 'gluck variations' sometime.  i don't recall ever hearing those.

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[pianistimo]

thanks kelly_kelly!  i don't remember hearing them - so this is a first!

[apion]

I'm in love with a few of his concertos, and I think it's time I branched off into the sonatas or something. While you're at it, any favorite recordings?

I also love the piano concerti; The only solo piano music that I really like is Mozart's set of variations Ah, Vous Dirais Je, Maman (spelling).

[sharon_f]

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Here's another performance:

https://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4204205831320208303&q=mozart+variations

[thaicheow]

look for lang lang's kv 330 and a recording of d minor fantasy,that piece is so deep and beautiful

Gee. I have to agree that Lang Lang's Mozart is almost perfect, as I can hardly nickpick any flaw. Much more command compare to Li YunDi (Don't get me wrong. Frankly, I am not quite a fan of Lang2, but I have to admit this).

A lot pianists do play very well in Mozart, even with its simple but difficult work. You may want to listen to:

1. Alicia De Larrocha - not all her Mozart is great, but she seems to able to bring new sound to so many popular works. that listening to her is a refreshing experience.

2. Lili Kraus - never heard her b4, but she is much respected in her Mozart interpretation.

3. Dame Myra Hess - Heard only a fraction of her playing Mozart Concerto in the documentary "The Art of Piano". Simply marvellous.

4. Andreas Haefliger - I am not familiar with this pianist. I have his Mozart's piano sonatas cd, published by Sony. 2 thumbs up.

5. Martha Argerich - AN unlikely choice when come to Mozart. But I saw her playing concerto in youtube. She just getting better.

6. Maria-Joao Pires - Heard that she is good in Mozart, Schumann. Mostly under DG label.

And much much more!!!

Strange, seem like I like female pianists more.