In this album, pianist Lars Vogt performs two early sonatas by Mozart that are coupled together with the touching A minor Sonata, K310 – written at the time of the composer’s mother’s death – and a delightful, Haydnesque Sonata K333.
Mozart wrote Piano Sonatas K280 and K281 (nos. 2 & 3) most likely in 1774, at the age of 18. The elements of Baroque influence are clearly evident in the K280 Sonata. A prominent feature in the K281 Sonata is, besides its virtuosity, the beautiful slow-movement, Andante amoroso.
The K310 Sonata (no.8) was written four years later, during the summer of 1778, and is written in a minor key: a rarity among Mozart’s Sonatas.
The K333 was published in 1784, but the time of its composition might have been earlier. This joyful work with virtuosic passages can be described almost as a Piano Concerto for the solo piano.
Here is the first movement of the Sonata K310 by Mozart, as performed by Lars Vogt:
