Mozart's sonatas for fortepiano and violin, as they were designed in the composer's time, have received several strong recordings, but the advent of historically oriented performance in the music of Mozart has made room for plenty more. This release, the second in a series by fortepianist Alexander Melnikov and violinist Isabelle Faust, has an entirely distinctive profile. Melnikov uses a modern copy of a 1795 Walter fortepiano, and Faust a Stradivarius with gut strings. At the most general level, Melnikov exploits the ...
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Mozart's sonatas for fortepiano and violin, as they were designed in the composer's time, have received several strong recordings, but the advent of historically oriented performance in the music of Mozart has made room for plenty more. This release, the second in a series by fortepianist Alexander Melnikov and violinist Isabelle Faust, has an entirely distinctive profile. Melnikov uses a modern copy of a 1795 Walter fortepiano, and Faust a Stradivarius with gut strings. At the most general level, Melnikov exploits the potentialities of the fortepiano nicely, with a sharp, bright tone that sparkles in rapid runs while not losing the Mozartian grace of the music. Moreover, there is an uncanny sense in the pair's performance of the innovative qualities of these sonatas. Perhaps more than any other genre, the violin-and-piano sonata was new in Mozart's time, and he shaped it mightily. As the "fortepiano and violin" title promises, the piano has a dominant role, and there are few passages where the violin...
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