This collection of Mozart's violin and viola music is rather oddly presented: the Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216, and two shorter works for violin and orchestra receive conventional program notes, but the central works on the album, the Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola, and orchestra, and the two duos for violin and viola on disc two, are described in a fictional work, a short-short story called "Too Much Mozart" by British novelist and music writer Jessica Duchen. The device is rather mystifying, and the ...
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This collection of Mozart's violin and viola music is rather oddly presented: the Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216, and two shorter works for violin and orchestra receive conventional program notes, but the central works on the album, the Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola, and orchestra, and the two duos for violin and viola on disc two, are described in a fictional work, a short-short story called "Too Much Mozart" by British novelist and music writer Jessica Duchen. The device is rather mystifying, and the same might be said of the general interpretations by violinist and conductor Philippe Graffin. Dedicated to extracting the significance of small details, they tend lose both the limpid charm of the violin concerto and the glorious spaciouness of the Sinfonia Concertante. Without any explanation, the blank tonic-dominant figure with which the orchestra accompanies the entrance of the soloists in the first movement of the Sinfonia Concertante is altered rhythmically; the plain figure is,...
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