311

The 17-song MOSAIC was produced by John Feldmann (Blink-182, Panic! At The Disco, etc.) and Scotch Ralston (who produced 311’s iconic Transistor, Soundsystem and Stereolithic albums). With MOSAIC, 311 are approaching their 10th consecutive Top 10 album debut on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart.

The three sonatas on this disc were all written in 1777-78, and mark Mozart's attainment of a new level of skill and sophistication in his writing for the piano. Uchida's accounts, recorded in 1985, midway through her survey of the composer's complete piano sonatas for Philips, are sympathetic and nicely shaped. Some pianists have found more vehemence and darkness in the A minor sonata, K. 310, and more elegance in the two major-key works, but the balanced, essentially lyrical approach Uchida brings to the music works very well. This is soulful playing, of an intimacy not often encountered these days, and the recording does it full justice.

Angela Hewitt’s voyage of discovery through Mozart’s piano sonatas is proving a joy, the works sounding newly minted in vital, alert accounts which respect their scale and sensibility while revealing influences of Mozart’s orchestral and concerto writing of the period.

Orli Shaham comes to the end of her monumental survey of Mozart’s complete Piano Sonatas. With this achievement, the pianist puts a double bar line on an exhilarating journey through music she has known most of her life. Shaham’s affinity for Mozart is evident in each sonata, to which she applies tonal beauty, technical fluency, textural lucidity, and interpretive flair. Revered as a thrillingly expressive interpreter of Mozart’s works, Orli Shaham brings technical virtuosity and deftness to performances that connect directly with the audience.