Rachel Podger & Jane Rogers - W.A. Mozart & M. Haydn: Duo Sonatas (2011) [SACD]

The duo sonata for violin and viola, lodged between the intellectual dialogue of the string quartet and the entertainment value of chamber genres intended for everyday use, was not a common type of composition during the Classical period. Franz Joseph Haydn wrote a few, and the works here by Mozart and Michael Haydn may have been connected in their circumstances of composition. This is a fine recording of the two Mozart duos. British historical-instrument specialists Rachel Podger on violin and Jane Rogers on viola, playing respectively a Pesarinius violin of 1739 and a modern copy of a Guarneri instrument, give the lie to the idea that Baroque specialists tend to give stilted performances of Classical-era music. Of course, the tough, dense Mozart duos, filled with ingenious ways of suggesting a full string quartet, are well suited to the crisper, meatier sounds of historical instruments. The warm buzz of Rogers' viola sounds terrific in the complicated chordal work Mozart makes her perform. The pair conveys the witty rigor of the variation finale of the Duo for violin and viola in B flat major, K. 424, and Podger has a fine lyric touch in the incongruously operatic slow-movement melodies. The two Michael Haydn duos are both less interesting and less convincingly played, but for an audience of the 18th century as well as ours, they would have represented a relaxing break from the intellectual work of Mozart. The transcription of one of Mozart's short horn duets, K. 487, makes an unusual and charming finale. Strongly recommended for the way these performances fill out our imagined sound world of these neglected Mozart works. -- James Manheim