MOZART PIANO SONATAS - FERRATI

MOZART PIANO SONATAS ( CVLD232 )

Author : WA MOZART
Performer : MASSIMILIANO FERRATI

Notes

Classical. Original compositions by WA Mozart. Massimiliano Ferrati piano.
24bit/48 kHz original live-in-studio recorded, in Villa S. Fermo, Lonigo, Italy, on May 2010.

In the rich panorama of Mozart's sonata production, the three Sonatas performed on this CD, although consecutive in date of composition, stand out for their originality and differ in aspects of content, structure and timbric invention. Composed in 1778 in Paris, the Sonata K. 310 is often associated by biographers with the difficult period following the death of his mother. Written in a minor key, rarer in Mozart, it is the emblem of that profound and entirely personal drama caused both by the emotional void of a loss and by the discomfort due to a lack of artistic affirmation in the Parisian environment. The use of ostinato rhythmic elements, combined with strong dissonances, leads to a dramatic culmination in the development of the first and second movements, already highlighting a characteristic of the Romantic sonata form. The third movement, in Rondo form, also insists on a theme whose melodic line, agitated and breathless, tends to close in on itself, without finding peace. The only oasis is the central section in A major, where a simple and evocative melody almost seems to take us back to a happy childhood, a motif perhaps linked to the memory of the mother.
The Sonata K. 330, completed in 1783, differs in character and positivity from the sonata in A minor and is today among the most frequently performed Mozart sonatas in concert programs. Easy from a mechanical-executive point of view, but far from simple in its aesthetic representation, it is a true rare pearl that requires from the performer great naturalness in phrasing and the ability to reach rare moments of intimate depth, which never fail to surprise the listener, suggesting a gaze towards infinity, as in the central section in F minor of the Andante Cantabile. From the sunny nature of the first movement to the humorous and mocking tone of the third movement (both in sonata form), K. 330 ends with an unexpected final question underlined by a very brief pause on the sixth degree, almost a moment of unexpected and serious doubt which however, after a moment's pause, proudly dissolves all appearances and brings us back to the carefree character and now full of irrepressible joy with the three final chords.
The Sonata K. 331, contemporary with K330, is a rare case of a Sonata that has no movement in sonata form, an element that allows the composer greater formal freedom. K. 331 opens with a theme (“Andante Grazioso”) and 6 variations. The theme suggests the idea of ​​a lullaby, thanks to its lulling movement, which undergoes inevitable transformations in the variations and allows Mozart to play extensively on the invention of timbre and colour: the use of tied octaves present in the third variation in a minor mode, in the fourth variation the crossing of the hands highlights the dialogue of timbre between the bass and the highest voice of the melody managed by the left hand, while a central design entrusted to the right hand acts as a glue. Mozart indicates only two changes in tempo: the Adagio in the fifth variation and the Allegro in the sixth. All this without ever falling into fragmentation but instead offering the interpreter the possibility of creating a single large movement of vast proportions, but still compact. The second movement is smooth, if it were not for the change of form (Menuetto and Trio): the tonality remains the same. We find, in the Trio, the crossing between the two hands, almost to underline an elegant alternation on the stage of two characters: one female and one male. The third movement “Allegretto. Alla Turca” is certainly one of the most popular pieces in the piano repertoire. In the form of a Rondo, in the key of A minor, it offers a continuous alternation between the minor and major modes, a central section in F sharp minor, and a final Coda also in the key of A major, almost to crown a structured path without interruption, like a great arch of a single breath from the first to the last note of the composition. There is no lack of timbral inventions to simulate the use of percussion in the march, which, in Mozart's time, with an adequately equipped instrument, could actually be activated thanks to an additional pedal.
The Adagio in B minor K. 540 (Vienna, 1788) is one of the most profound and spiritual works of the Salzburg composer. Mozart uses the sonata form and an enigmatic language, touching on very distant tonalities, sharp dynamic contrasts, use of sforzati, dissonances and chromatic progressions. A sense of existential instability is felt throughout the composition and only in the final coda in B major can we find serenity and the much sought-after final answer to the great questions of life.