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SKU/Barcode: 845829000417
He did what to Mozart's sonatas!?! is the usual reaction from anyone to whom Mozart's piano sonatas are beloved works when he/she hears that Grieg wrote a second piano part to go with them. Mozart was Grieg's favorite composer, so it is not as if Grieg were attempting to "fix" Mozart's work. What Grieg wanted to do is complement the originals, similar to the way a talented younger jazz musician might want to sit in on a session with an older master. Grieg's intentions are obvious and entirely successful in this very lucid and elegant performance by the Dena Piano Duo of the four complete sonatas (the only thing that is missing, and is missed, is the Fantasia in C minor, K. 475). Yes, Grieg wanted to bring a more modern sound to Mozart's writing, and yes, there is much more pedal than a Mozart purist can stand, but that doesn't mean that Grieg wanted to add more Romantic passion, which is how these sonatas are often performed. With these two performers, Heide G rtz and Tina Margareta Nilssen, the gracefulness of the Classical era is maintained, making it clear why "gilding the lily" is a phrase frequently applied to Grieg's second parts. For the most part, Grieg is just reinforcing Mozart's ideas, adding flourishes, some unexpected but delightful countermelodies, some extra dancing energy here and there. In the final movement of the already dramatic Sonata in C minor, K. 457, Grieg buttresses the tension with new, alien harmonies and ominous tremolo, but maintains a sense of proportion. In fact, the intensity of Mozart's original is actually tempered and easier to bear in most of the movement. Thicker density is unavoidable, but the Duo makes it work to its advantage. With it, the middle movement of the Sonata in F major, K. 533/494, begins to take on some of the dark coloring and significance of Mozart's masses and serious operas. Also inescapable, the Norwegian in Grieg comes out, particularly in the final rondos of the Sonata in F major, K. 533/494, and Sonata in G major, K. 283. For those who aren't too offended by Grieg's audacity and are curious as to how he could have carried it off, this is the recording to hear.
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