This survey of Mozart's complete piano sonatas marks Elisabeth Leonskaja's return to the Warner Classics label. A former pupil and duet partner of the great Sviatoslav Richter, Leonskaja has earned acclaim and accolades during her esteemed career for her technical ability and imaginative interpretations. Though Leonskaja, with Richter, previously recorded Mozart, she is best known for repertoire from the Romantic and Post-Romantic periods (with Chopin and Schubert making up a considerable amount of her recording catalog); ...
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This survey of Mozart's complete piano sonatas marks Elisabeth Leonskaja's return to the Warner Classics label. A former pupil and duet partner of the great Sviatoslav Richter, Leonskaja has earned acclaim and accolades during her esteemed career for her technical ability and imaginative interpretations. Though Leonskaja, with Richter, previously recorded Mozart, she is best known for repertoire from the Romantic and Post-Romantic periods (with Chopin and Schubert making up a considerable amount of her recording catalog); these present readings display her aptitude in those later eras. The Mozart piano sonatas date from the mid-1770s until the late 1780s, and the instruments that Mozart played on and wrote for did not have much in the way of a damper pedal. If they had a pedal (or knee lever) at all, it would not sustain as long as those used today. Leonskaja, playing on a modern Steinway, does not overdo the pedal work, but these performances do not hew too close to the historical performance...
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