A Survey of Mozart Piano Sonata Cycles
An Index of ionarts Discographies
Updates:
12/06/2023: I am keeping my eye on developing sontata cycles (Orli Shaham, Angela Hewitt, Jean Muller, Michael Wessel, Christopher Berensen et al.. Meanwhile, Peter Donohoe's (Somm) cycle has reached volume 6 and thus its end - and I have added Yeol Eum Son's (Naïve) cycle. I have also discovered a cycle by Yasuko Tomada on Alm Records / Kojima Recordings, out in Japan and at least on volume 6. There are new re-releases of the cycels by Clara Würtz and Glenn Gould. They have been added.
10/07/2022: It's been a while since the last update. Here are some of the additions: New cycles from Mao Fujita, Elisabeth Leonskaja, and Robert Levin. Newly released as a box: Kristian Bezuidenhout. New re-issues of Barenboim I and Lubimov. Michael Wessel seems to be working on a cycle for Ars, ditto Orli Shaham on Canari Classics and Angela Hewitt has started with Mozart for Hyperion. I'll add those once they have developed more widely. This is all v. much a work in progress. If you have comments, it is easiest to hit me up on Twitter @ClassicalCritic.
09/11/2019: Roberto Prosseda's Fazioli-cycle on Decca (Italy) has been added to the survey.
04/07/2019: Paul Badura-Skoda's first set (on modern instruments) has been re-issued by Sony and is now available again.
01/09/2019: It would appear that Chen; Pi-hsien (long on the faculty of the Cologne and Freiburg conservatories where she focused on modern and contemporary music) has recorded a cycle. (Thanks to Fred from the comment section!) I'm looking into it and will add more information as I get it.
08/22/2018: William Youn's cycle has since been finished with volume 5 and already released in boxed form, too. It shoots to the top of the recommendation list, as expected. If you want to sample one volume only, make it Volume 4. Also, having finally listened to it, Christian Zacharias gets an "ionarts' choice" recommendation - but only in one of the original releases. One hopes that if it should ever be re-released, the people at Warner might undo the damage of ordering the sonatas by key, which makes for tedious listening, even with a cycle played with such a light and imaginary touch as Zacharias'.
03/26/2017: True, Alfred Brendel didn't record a complete set, but really, he's come closer than some others included in this survey. Since it's recently been issued as a set, that merits inclusion.
03/22/2017: Clara Sverner has been added.
03/18/2017: Finished, at last! At least as far as my database goes.
02/20/2016: Updated from Walter Klien to Vlado Perlemutter. Alphabetical banners added for easier navigation.
02/11/2016: Pianists A through J are finished... the rest, from Walter Klien to Christian Zacharias, will be added over the next weeks.
01/29/2016: There are several new discographic entries under work. Mahler Symphony Cycles, almost obviously. Ditto Nielsen and Martinů as well as Bartók and Shostakovich String Quartet cycles. They just take so much darn time and even then they are rarely complete or mistake-free. Neither will this one be, and every such post is also a plea to generously inclined readers with more information and knowledge of the subject than I have to lend a helping hand correcting my mistakes or filling data-lacunae. (I.e. will Yuko Hisamoto’s begun cycle be finished? Are there new, available editions of formerly hard-to-find sets?) I am grateful for any such pointers, hinters, and corrections.
Commentary on individual releases, where available, on mouse-over.
Because I lack consistent data for when these cycles were recorded (I need the date of the earliest and the last included recording), I will list the sets alphabetically for now. As (or if) I gather enough information, I will want to set it up chronologically. Else I hope that only pianists whose name begins with "Z" are recording any new sets. ☺ (William Youn almost gets that right!)
Like the Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle Survey, this is a mere inventory of what has been recorded and whether it is still available. Favorites are denoted with the "ionarts' choice" graphic. Also like the Beethoven Survey but unlike most of the other symphony-cycle-surveys among the ionarts-discographies, this survey actually is meant to be exhaustive and cover all issues, not just those that are available or have at some point made it onto CD. Unlike with earlier surveys, I will give each (meaningful) iteration of a cycle its own space, rather than listing only to the most recent re-issue. This is partly because with cycles going in and out of print, more than one may be available, depending on your location prices might differ, and perhaps most of all so that we can marvel at the covers and how they have evolved. (And remember: Ah, this is the one I have.) If cycles of one pianist are not given a differing roman numeral, then they are identical to all those that share that (lack of) numeral, even if they are on entirely different labels.
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13 comments:
Hello, JFL,
I'd point to Klara Würtz and her complete Mozart Sonatas, on Brilliant, 2010.
Thank you.
Keep up the great work.
Thanks for the comment. She's definitely on my radar... alas, at "W", she'll have to wait a little while. In fact, she's third-to-last on my (alphabetical) list.
I think Mejoueva has just finished a set. Excellent. Plus don't forget Clara Sverner - also superb
Thanks much, Fred! Will include those when I get to it. Cheers & best,
Jens
Fred: I'm still not seeing more than two volumes of Mozart from Mejoueva on Denon... do you know about more than that? Thanks & cheers,
Jens
Massive number of sets! Some very interesting interpretations exist in less than complete sets, too many to keep track of, I guess, but the 2 disk "Mozart: The Vienna Years" by Immerseel on Vivarte, and the 2 disk "Mozart Sonatas" by Staier on HM are both very interesting but will probably never be a full cycle. Thanks for all the great info. Tilney, hmmm.....
Gurn 8^)
Thanks for the comment, Gurn. Among interesting-but-not-a-set, I'd also include Pletnev (Dip Your Ears No.53), but of course a very different direction than Staier & Immerseel.
Who'd have thought that the 'underrated' or even 'lesser' (Paul Johnson) Mozart Sonatas have almost as many recordings (81 as of now) as the grand Beethoven sonatas (96 as per my count). Granted, the latter's a much more daunting undertaking, at roughly 3 times the music...
Jens, Thank you so much for collecting all of these. It's a great resource, beautifully arranged, and a wonderful achievement on your part.
I'm going to look at the hyperlink in your last comment hoping to see something about the Beethoven cycles.
Keep up the great work.
Dear Tom,
thanks ever so much for the kind words - they are MUCH appreciated, indeed. I hope you have found the Beethoven Survey similarly helpful.
Best,
Jens
Thank you for your list, my recordings of Mozart's Piano Sonatas were performed on Bosendorfer and Bechstein pianos in the years 1988-1991, and published by Sheva collection in 2011 under the Patronage of the Austrian Embassy in Rome.
Marco Albrizio
Dear Mr. Albrizio,
thanks much for the info which I'll see to incorporate.
Cheers & best,
jfl
Just to make life difficult for you: Pi-Hsien Chen seems to have recorded a complete set in Taiwan for Sunrise Records. But it's basically impossible to obtain.
Oh, GREAT! [EyeRoll]
No, but seriously: Thanks Fred!!! Will see what I can find.
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