Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Vlado Perlemuter :: Mozart: Piano Sonatas

Undiscovered treasure makes for a wonderful Mozart set

Daniel W. Fowler | Austin TX | 03/04/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow, this was a great find! I am so glad I stumbled across it.



To begin, I have long enjoyed Mozart's piano sonatas since I was first introduced to them through recordings by Walter Klien on our local classical music station KMFA. Klien's cycle was a great one, but I continually sought out other interpretations including wonderful cycles from Alicia de Larrocha, Maria-João Pires, Daniel Barenboim, and most recently Ronald Brautigam on fortepiano. Each of these cycles captured special characteristics of interpretation that offered more than "prettified" Mozart, capturing nobility, humor, sometimes roughness in addition to the symmetry of musical form and gorgeousness of melody.



But I had never heard of this set, and it easily belongs to the exalted ranks of the other cycles. Vlado Perlemuter studied with Alfred Cortot and Maurice Ravel and later taught at the Paris Conservatoire from 1951 to 1977. These recordings, captured in very good mono sound, were made by French Vox in 1956 and carefully processed by by Marc Aubort from the master tapes. The sound is great and does not detract from the performances in any way.



The performances are uniformly outstanding. I would characterize the interpretations as direct with no frills or romanticizing of the melodies. Tempos are well chosen, phrasing is divine, the touch is alternately forceful and lyrical, fast movements flow effortlessly, and slow movements make great use of the space around the notes as well as a delicate touch. I will be listening to this set many, many times for years to come."