Petra Müllejans, Kristian Bezuidenhout - Mozart - Sonatas for Fortepiano and Violin (2009)

Like his piano concertos, Mozart's violin sonatas were often used as tools for him to demonstrate not only his compositional acumen, but his keyboard skills as well. Even beyond that, they were inadvertent tools for Mozart to show off his improvisational skills. The Sonata, K. 379, popularly known as the "Hour Sonata," is rumored to have been written in the aforementioned brief time frame. In fact, Mozart only wrote the violin part out, improvising the keyboard part during the premiere performance. This spontaneous, improvisatory character fills most of Mozart's violin sonatas, as does a surprising equality between the keyboard and violin parts. Successful performances of these works, then, require exceptionally skilled and insightful musicians on both parts, as well as artists who can capture Mozart's sense of spontaneity. Violinist Petra Müllejans and fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout are perfectly suited to this task. Müllejans' career has focused not only on classical music, but also klezmer and tango music. Her playing is filled with a delightful sense of joviality in fast movements and an earnest but not-too-serious wisdom in the contemplative slow movements. The violin's tone is bright and singing, nicely matching with the brilliantly clear, dynamic fortepiano. Harmonia Mundi's sound quality incorporates just enough reverb to yield an inviting chamber music sound.