Elisabeth Leonskaja - Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas (2022)

If we are to believe the cover accompanying this new album, it only took Elisabeth Leonskaya six short days to record Mozart's seventeen Keyboard Sonatas, at the beginning of 2021, in the old radio room. of Bremen, converted today into an independent concert hall. A sacred performance that says a lot about the preparation and technique of the great lady of the Russian piano. Soon to be octogenarian, she continues a discreet but intense career, multiplying concerts and recordings.

After having played for a long time in a duet with her friend Sviatoslav Richter, Elisabeth Leonskaya left the Soviet Union in 1978 to settle in Austria. Heir to the great tradition of Russian piano thanks to the teaching of Heinrich Neuhaus, Leonskaya is not really a diva. On the contrary, his legendary modesty and his shyness make him fear journalists and socialites. His way of finding with simplicity the quintessence of music is found perfectly in this integral of Mozart's Sonatas: played without fuss and with a confusing naturalness. This new complete effortlessly follows in the wake of those of its sisters Lili Kraus and Maria João Pires who have left their mark, each in their own way, on this vast corpus of which only a few works are regularly performed in concert.

Mozart was already eighteen years old when he began to compose his piano sonatas, a relatively late age in view of his precocity, which is no doubt explained by the evolution of the instrumental construction which allowed this new instrument to emancipate themselves and supplant the harpsichord then considered outdated. Often looked down upon in his production and used above all from a pedagogical angle, these Mozart Sonatas are nevertheless a model of writing and clarity.

Tracklist
1. Piano Sonata No. 1 in C Major, K. 279: I. Allegro (7:50)
2. Piano Sonata No. 1 in C Major, K. 279: II. Andante (8:08)
3. Piano Sonata No. 1 in C Major, K. 279: III. Allegro (5:20)
4. Piano Sonata No. 2 in F Major, K. 280: I. Allegro assai (6:52)
5. Piano Sonata No. 2 in F Major, K. 280: II. Adagio (8:13)
6. Piano Sonata No. 2 in F Major, K. 280: III. Presto (4:40)
7. Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, K. 281: I. Allegro (7:27)
8. Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, K. 281: II. Andante amoroso (7:40)
9. Piano Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, K. 281: III. Rondeau. Allegro (4:53)
10. Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major, K. 282: I. Adagio (7:40)
11. Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major, K. 282: II. Menuetto I - Menuetto II (4:36)
12. Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major, K. 282: III. Allegro (3:29)
13. Piano Sonata No. 5 in G Major, K. 283: I. Allegro (6:11)
14. Piano Sonata No. 5 in G Major, K. 283: II. Andante (6:52)
15. Piano Sonata No. 5 in G Major, K. 283: III. Presto (6:26)
16. Piano Sonata No. 6 in D Major, K. 284: I. Allegro (7:51)
17. Piano Sonata No. 6 in D Major, K. 284: II. Rondeau en polonaise. Andante (4:34)
18. Piano Sonata No. 6 in D Major, K. 284: III. Tema con variazione (16:10)
19. Piano Sonata No. 7 in C Major, K. 309: I. Allegro con spirito (8:53)
20. Piano Sonata No. 7 in C Major, K. 309: II. Andante un poco adagio (5:46)
21. Piano Sonata No. 7 in C Major, K. 309: III. Rondeau. Allegretto grazioso (6:30)
22. Piano Sonata No. 9 in D Major, K. 311: I. Allegro con spirito (6:51)
23. Piano Sonata No. 9 in D Major, K. 311: II. Andante con espressione (5:49)
24. Piano Sonata No. 9 in D Major, K. 311: III. Rondeau. Allegro (6:31)
25. Piano Sonata No. 8 in A Minor, K. 310: I. Allegro maestoso (8:49)
26. Piano Sonata No. 8 in A Minor, K. 310: II. Andante cantabile con espressione (9:39)
27. Piano Sonata No. 8 in A Minor, K. 310: III. Presto (3:13)
28. Piano Sonata No. 10 in C Major, K. 330: I. Allegro moderato (10:06)
29. Piano Sonata No. 10 in C Major, K. 330: II. Andante cantabile (6:52)
30. Piano Sonata No. 10 in C Major, K. 330: III. Allegretto (6:04)
31. Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K. 331 "Alla Turca": I. Tema con variazione (14:26)
32. Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K. 331 "Alla Turca": II. Menuetto - Trio (6:12)
33. Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K. 331 "Alla Turca": III. Alla Turca - Allegretto (3:29)
34. Piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major, K. 332: I. Allegro (10:13)
35. Piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major, K. 332: II. Adagio (4:52)
36. Piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major, K. 332: III. Allegro assai (7:22)
37. Piano Sonata No. 13 in B-Flat Major, K. 333: I. Allegro (11:34)
38. Piano Sonata No. 13 in B-Flat Major, K. 333: II. Andante cantabile (11:22)
39. Piano Sonata No. 13 in B-Flat Major, K. 333: III. Allegretto grazioso (6:43)
40. Fantasia in C Minor, K. 475 (13:04)
41. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Minor, K. 457: I. Molto allegro (9:13)
42. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Minor, K. 457: II. Adagio (9:03)
43. Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Minor, K. 457: III. Allegro assai (5:18)
44. Piano Sonata No. 15 in F Major, K. 533: I. Allegro (11:46)
45. Piano Sonata No. 15 in F Major, K. 533: II. Andante (9:16)
46. Piano Sonata No. 15 in F Major, K. 533: III. Rondo. Allegretto (6:33)
47. Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major, K. 545: I. Allegro (4:40)
48. Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major, K. 545: II. Andante (6:52)
49. Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major, K. 545: III. Rondo. Allegretto (1:40)
50. Piano Sonata No. 17 in B-Flat Major, K. 570: I. Allegro (6:10)
51. Piano Sonata No. 17 in B-Flat Major, K. 570: II. Adagio (8:35)
52. Piano Sonata No. 17 in B-Flat Major, K. 570: III. Allegretto (3:48)
53. Piano Sonata No. 18 in D Major, K. 576: I. Allegro (5:09)
54. Piano Sonata No. 18 in D Major, K. 576: II. Adagio (4:43)
55. Piano Sonata No. 18 in D Major, K. 576: III. Allegretto (4:27)