WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART : The Piano Sonatas (Mitsuko Uchida) 5CD (2001) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Philips has reissued, at an affordable price, Mitsuko Uchida's recordings of all the Mozart piano sonatas. It's a great package for anyone who hasn't heard her celebrated performances of these or may have only heard one or two. She uses a lightness of touch and approach as if she were playing on an instrument more like what Mozart would have had, rather than its modern, sturdy descendent. There is also a deliberateness and care given to each phrase, adding a delicate nuance here, a smidgen more drama there. Even in the most dramatic of the sonatas, the Sonata in C minor, K. 457, and its preceding Fantasy, K. 475, the mood hints at the drama of Beethoven, but is not played with anything near the intensity of Beethoven and always carries the good humor of Mozart. In the Sonata in D major, K. 284, the listener can easily hear Mozart the symphonist or opera composer just by the way Uchida voices and balances the music under her hands. It's an extremely satisfying set of performances. by Patsy Morita