Mozart Piano Sonatas and Fantasias
Lars Vogt

Review by: Robert Zierolf

Lars Vogt's recordings primarily feature nineteenth- and early twentieth-century repertoire, so this all-Mozart 2-CD set is stylistically and chronologically an interesting challenge. Influenced by "authentic performance" practitioners, particularly Harnoncourt, Vogt performs sonatas 10-12 and six other works from the 1780s with attention to the presumed style of the times.

Mozart performed on the fortepiano, immediate predecessor of the modern piano, but Vogt's choice of the Steinway is not inappropriate. His articulation is crystal clear and his phrasing thoughtful, though at times more on the nineteenth-century side than purists would accept. This double CD package contains well over two hours of music, some of it lesser known but, as is usual with Mozart, all elegant and engaging.

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Robert Zierolf is Professor of Music Theory and History and Division head of Composition, Musicology, and Theory at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. He is also a freelance writer on classical music.