Alberto Bologni - Mozart: Complete Violin Sonatas, Vol. 2: K. 305, 380, 377 & 547 (2021)

Mozart's early violin sonatas were meant as works in which the violin accompanies the piano, the main instrument at the time. Not coincidentally, it follows that the word "piano" in the titles comes before "violin." In the second and more mature period, generally starting from the Sonata K. 296, the dialogue between the two instruments becomes increasingly balanced and involved, perhaps with the exception of the last sonata.
Five Sonatas (K. 296, K. 301-303, 305 [Nos. 17-20, 22]) were composed in Mannheim, Germany and published in the same year (1778). They were dedicated to Maria Elisabeth, Electress of the Palatinate and are consequently known as the Palatine Sonatas. Sonatas in E Minor, K. 304 (No. 21) and in D Major, K. 306 (No. 23) were composed in the same year, but while Mozart was in Paris. The E Minor Sonata was composed after Mozart's mother death: the tragic in this music is evident. It is also the only instrumental work by Mozart whose home key is E minor. Mozart moves from Paris to Vienna and the next violin sonatas, composed during summer 1781, are part of his Opus 2. This sonata, along with five other ones as a collection (K. 376, K. 377, K. 378, K. 379 and K. 380), were all dedicated to Mozart's pupil Josepha von Auernhammer.
The sonata No. 32 in B-flat major (K. 454) was written for an Italian violin virtuoso, Regina Strinasacchi, of Mantua, to be performed by the dedicatee and Mozart himself at a concert in the Kärntnerthor Theater in Vienna on April 29, 1784. Although Mozart had the piano part securely in his head, he did not give himself enough time to write it out, and thus it was performed with a sheet of blank music paper in front of him in order to fool the audience. According to a story told by his widow Constanze Mozart, the Emperor Joseph II saw the empty sheet music through his opera glasses and sent for the composer with his manuscript, at which time Mozart had to confess the truth, although that is likely to have amused the monarch rather than angering him. The sonata opens with an exceptionally slow introduction, in which emphasis is put on the equality of the two instruments, kept throughout the entire work. The opening theme was later echoed by Haydn Op. 50 No. 1 String Quartet and Beethoven's String Quartet No. 1.
Violin Sonata No. 33 in E-flat major (K. 481) was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna on December 12, 1785. It was published on its own by Franz Anton Hoffmeister, a German composer and music publisher to whom Mozart's String Quartet No. 20 (K. 499) is dedicated. While much is unknown about the history of this sonata, it is nevertheless a very mature work, written in what one may call Mozart's period of greatest mastery (during his life in Vienna).
The Sonata in A for Violin and Keyboard, K. 526, was written in 1787 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is placed in the Köchel catalogue between the string serenade 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik' (K. 525) and the opera 'Don Giovanni' (K. 527). It is the last of Mozart's substantial violin sonatas, with the only remaining work he wrote for this combination, the sonata in F, K. 547 of 1788 being more of a sonatina. It is also considered by several authors, including Alfred Einstein, to be part of his last series of three great violin sonatas which starts with the Regina Strinasacchi sonata in B-flat K. 454 from 1784.
The Sonata in F for Violin and Keyboard, K. 547, was completed on July 10, 1788 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The sonata is often nicknamed "For Beginners" and was completed two weeks after the similarly nicknamed piano sonata in C major, K. 545. Unlike the previous few keyboard sonatas, where the violin played an equal role, this sonata is dominated by the keyboard part (as for the first period mentioned above). In that regard, only the violin part is easy and the keyboard part is not "for beginners".
During its thirty-five years of activity as a duo, violinist Alberto Bologni and pianist Giuseppe Bruno appeared in hundreds of performances. OnClassical is honored to present two complete sets of recordings - the Violin Sonatas of Beethoven and Mozart, for a total of eight albums. In this four-volume cycle, which features all of the mature violin sonatas by Wolgang Amadeus Mozart, the duo provides an olympic rendition of the set that leaves the music, already perfect in itself, unbound from over-characterization and heaviness.
The recordings was made by sound engineer Alessandro Simonetto using two historical pairs of Bru¨el & Kjær microphones.