Thursday, January 8, 2015

Christian Blackshaw Mozart Piano sonatas live Wigmore Hall on Spotify

Here are some fascinatingly irritating Mozart performances. I noticed them when I came across this tweet from Christian deFeo: 

„These just arrived: few pianists interpret Mozart's sonatas as sensitively as Christian Blackshaw. @wigmore_hall „ 

Picture of the CD’s included. I hushed to the spotify app and picked a sonata. After listening to KV 570 and KV 310, the infamous Arthur Schnabel quote came to mind: 
“The sonatas of Mozart are unique; they are too easy for children, and too difficult for artists.” Man 'o man, I thought, let the music speak for itself… Does every phrase need to be exclamation marked, emphasized and featured? Ok, some chilling moments in the slow movements, but soon compensated by irritating manners in the next movement. So… Although the set has enthousiast admirers en many good reviews, these live Mozart performances are not my cup of tea. 
But… the fact that I còuld hear them immediately after seeing the CD sleeves on twitter stays magical… And hey, I might not be „in to” this way of playing Mozart; maybe you will be, and, just like me, would like to sample these sonata’s.
So, here are the four live CD’s of Christian Blackshaw recorded live in Wigmore Hall , January and May 2012:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major K279
Piano Sonata No. 2 in F major K280
Piano Sonata No. 8 in D major K311
Piano Sonata No. 17 in B flat major K570
Piano Sonata No. 9 in A minor K310
Rec. Live Wigmore Hall Jan. 6, 2012

Piano Sonata No. 3 in B flat major K281
Piano Sonata No. 4 in E flat major K282
Piano Sonata No. 5 in D major K283
Piano Sonata No. 10 in C major K330
Piano Sonata No. 13 in B flat major K333
Rec. Live Wigmore Hall May. 23, 2012


Reviews who argue in favor of these recordings: 

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/12a797c8-1e60-11e3-a40b-00144feab7de.html
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=12544
„Blackshaw s mindful yet spontaneous virtuosity, pinpointed sense of character and utterly alive music-making completely disarmed my scepticism. His light touch and unpredictable yet never contrived sounding accents in the outer movements of the C major Sonata are akin to a master actor who knows how to throw away a good line.
Jed Distler, Gramophone - December 2013”
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/focus/the-return-of-the-‘eternal-perfectionist’-pianist-christian-blackshaw




Photo by Christan deFeo

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