Release Date: 27 January 2023
Label: C-Avi
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 4260085534982
Genres: Classical Solo Instrumental
Description
In 2019, Elena Bashkirova played a Mozart/Dvoralk recital in the Berlin Philharmonie. This evening triggered the recording of the Mozart programme on this CD, in Berlin's Pierre Boulez Hall.
"Mozart is the purest of all musicians; he is music itself," affirmed Claude Debussy. And where, if not in Mozart's works for keyboard, could we find a more fitting example of utter clarity and purity in music? His keyboard output was vast, particularly in view of his short lifespan. The purity referred to by Debussy runs like a red thread through the selection of works by Mozart featured on this CD.
Tender, exquisite melodies are what makes each one of these pieces so special. On the other hand, stunning virtuosity and any sort of grand gestures are kept in check. If virtuosity makes an appearance now and then, it is only with the purpose of providing brief contrast with themes and motifs that are utterly simple, yet at the same time magnificent – as if the composer wanted to give these very themes a chance to display their full charm...."
Music historians long presumed that Mozart had written his Sonata No. 13 in B Flat Major K. 333 in Vienna around 1785. However, musicologist Alan Tyson recently provided convincing proof that Mozart must already have composed it in 1783 in Linz. The sonata is written on different paper than he used in Vienna.... Like dark thoughts flowing over a bed of melancholy, the opening arpeggios in Mozart's Fantasia in D Minor K. 397 (written between 1782 and 1785) lead through a series of brief sighing motifs to the main theme, which, in turn, will soon and often be interrupted by passages in a series of changing moods: at times heavy and despondent, at others nervous and agitated. ... ( excerpt from the booklet, 2022 Sebastian Jacob)
"There is plenty to admire about her performance, too, in particular their pristine clarity and the creative ornamentation in the repeats." – Gramophone
"Bashkirova conjures clear, beautifully phrased sounds from her Steinway" – BBC Music Magazine (Performance 4 STARS; Recording 5 STARS)
Tracklisting
Andreas Willwohl & Daniel Heide
Laurence Kilsby & Ella O'Neill
Kilian Herold, Barbara Buntrock, Florian Donderer, Tanja Tetzlaff
Kathrin Zukowski, KammerMusikKoln
Katharina Konradi, Catriona Morison, Ammiel Bushakevitz
Antje Weithaas, Denes Varjon
Premysl Vojta, Florence Millet, Ye Wu
Herbert Schuch, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne
Elena Bashkirova
