MOZART Piano Sonatas, Volume 6 (Peter Donohoe)

Record and Artist Details

Genre:

Instrumental

Label: Somm Recordings

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 60

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: SOMMCD0660

SOMMCD0660. MOZART Piano Sonatas, Volume 6 (Peter Donohoe)

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
Sonata for Piano No. 4 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Peter Donohoe, Piano
Sonata for Piano No. 14 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Peter Donohoe, Piano
Sonata for Piano No. 16 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Peter Donohoe, Piano
Fantasia Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Peter Donohoe, Piano

Peter Donohoe launched his Mozartian labour of love a little over four years ago (4/19) and completes it with a programme that takes in the remaining early sonata – the fourth of the set written by the 19-year old composer in Munich at the same time as La finta giardiniera – and two from his Viennese maturity, the ubiquitous ‘Sonata facile’ of 1788 and the ambitious C minor work of almost four years earlier. This isn’t Mozart-playing that digs down into the scores, ornamenting freely and departing from the music as written in order to shine new light upon it. But then, Donohoe isn’t that sort of player. What you get throughout this cycle is playing of honesty and affection, free of point-making, even to the extent that it sometimes appears plain, but backed, of course, by a technique galvanised by immersion in the most robust of the Russian Romantics.

Leave the gleeful showmanship to others, who demonstrate their fidelity to Mozartian style by going beyond the notes in their own flights of fancy. Donohoe’s straightforward approach in the C major, K545, draws attention to the music rather than the pianist; he displays a sustained, singing tone in the Andante and is just about playful enough in the closing Rondo. The same goes for the innocent E flat, K282, to which Donohoe imparts sufficient drama in the finale so as not to overwhelm the piece.

The big C minor, K457, is a different matter. Donohoe precedes it, as is traditional, with the wild-child C minor Fantasia, at last fully opening the throttle of his warm-toned Bechstein and exploring the range of moods in the music. The volatility continues through the sonata’s opening Allegro, into the intense concentration of the big Adagio and the uneasy resolution of the finale. It makes a worthy climax to the programme and a fine conclusion to the series. It’s not necessarily for every taste, as my colleagues’ comments have indicated in connection with earlier instalments. But if you’re on board with Donohoe’s Mozart, this final volume doesn’t disappoint.

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