MOZART: Violin Sonatas, K 301, 304,376, 454
Aaron Berofsky; Thomas Sauer, p
Blue Griffin 143—70 minutes
Mozart is rather unforgiving in these sonatas. He demands pristine control over every phrase, articulation, and musical gesture. Making an honest recording of these pieces is like sitting for a series of very high-resolution close-ups under brilliant light without wearing any make up (or even clothes). And when the music is played as well as it is possible to play it, the result sounds simple, graceful, and untroubled, leaving the non-violinist listener with the impression that this music is easy. It is not.
Like the rest of Mozart’s piano and violin music, these are pieces where the violin acts as the accompanist to the pianist, and while Berofsky is an excellent accompanist to Sauer, he still has to contend with the fact that Alberti bass figures that involve string crossings will never sound as accompanimental when played on the violin as they do on the piano, particularly when using modern instruments. The recording is engineered to allow the equal presence of the violin and the piano, making an honest representation of the score, but sometimes the equal presence of melody and accompaniment makes me feel a bit nervous while I hang on every carefully-placed accompanimental violin note that ould, under performing circumstances, fade into the background. But there are times when I really appreciate the recording equality, as in K304, the two-movement E-minor Sonata. I particularly enjoy this reading, especially the short piano cadenza in II and the exchange that follows it.
Berofsky and Sauer play with exquisite taste and pay close attention to bringing out the form and personality of each sonata. There is a lot to be learned from these readings. Everything this duo does is musically motivated, and every exchange of phrase is like an exchange of dialog. There are no theatrics, no overt stylistic attempts to approximate authenticity, and the main musical personality on this recording is Mozart’s. FINE Amercian Record Guide March/April 2008

Mozart: Violin Sonatas

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