GRAN PARTITA

PIANO SONATES KV 311-330-331

MOZART HIGHLIGHTS

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

Previously available on six single CDs, BIS offers Ronald Brautigam's Mozart Sonata cycle in one package. While the music easily could have fit on five discs, you still get six for the price of three. It's wonderfully worth it. To be sure, Brautigam's Paul McNulty fortepiano (modeled after an Anton-Gabriel Walter instrument circa 1795) doesn't match the timbral differentiation between registers we often encounter from other fortepianos. It has the advantage, however, of a clear, resonant sound and, praise be, it holds its tuning. Brautigam's imaginative interpretations capture Mozart's many moods, from the gallant style of the six earliest sonatas to the tensile drama and operatic leanings of the A minor (K. 310) and C minor Fantasia and Sonata (K. 457 and 475). Sometimes Brautigam's tapered diminuendos seem a bit arch and unnatural. At least his occasional mannerisms don't emerge as interpretive tics. If you're looking for a reasonably priced Mozart Sonata cycle played on a period instrument, look no further. Excellent sound and annotations, too. --Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

MOZART: STRING QUARTETS K 387

MOZART: STREICH-QUARTETTE K 42

LESLEY GARRETT - A SOPRANO INS

"• Exclusive to Naxos! • All titles never before available in the U.S.! • Incredible value; budget prices! • German pressings of the immense Sony Classical Masters Catalog in smart, desirable and collectible multi-disc editions • The Sony catalog is replete with legendary artists and many of the greatest recordings of the classical repertoire • Box fronts feature large, prominently displayed photo of the featured artist • Slender, shelf-friendly boxes; CD's housed in space-saving slipsleeves"

Too bad it's only been around for a hundred years! This is what the Trio Roseau thought about it's ensemble form, the "trio d'anches" featuring the oboe, clarinet, and bassoon and first established in the 1920s. But what to do when the ensemble's own members include a recognized top arranger in the person of Ulf-Guido Sch�fer? This versatile clarinetist did his seeking in the music of the immortal Mozart, and what he found there and arranged for his trio has now been recorded on the big sound of this album- a revelation for specialists in the field of wind chamber music - and not only for them! La clemenza di Tito, Mozart's last opera, offered particularly rewarding finds- which is hardly surprising, given the fact that Mozart increasingly included important parts for wind instruments in his late works. And the combination of oboe, clarinet, and bassoon also repeatedly occurs in the original scores. Might this be the reason why Schafer's arrangements sound so authentic? Two duets and two arias, framed by the overture and the famous rondo "Non piu di fiori," yield an ensemble composition full of operatic drama and ravishing beauty. Mozart's predilection for the clarinet is legendary, and he was also so very fond of the basset horn, it's "big sister" with a low voice, that he composed a good two dozen trio pieces for three of these horns. From them Schafer has derived three enchanting divertimenti that in their instrumentation for trio d'anches create a mirthful serenade atmosphere.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music