KV 85

«Si la personnalité humaine est une énigme, la réunion de quatre individus reste, elle aussi, un mystère. Pour rendre perceptible aux générations futures l’essence de la musique, il faudra prendre conscience que l’art, demain, ne nécessitera pas tant de perfection que d’humanité. S’il y a un message du Quatuor Amadeus c’est bien celui-là. L’autre secret des Amadeus c’était l’intuition, la spontanéité.

Philips has reissued, at an affordable price, Mitsuko Uchida's recordings of all the Mozart piano sonatas. It's a great package for anyone who hasn't heard her celebrated performances of these or may have only heard one or two. She uses a lightness of touch and approach as if she were playing on an instrument more like what Mozart would have had, rather than its modern, sturdy descendent. There is also a deliberateness and care given to each phrase, adding a delicate nuance here, a smidgen more drama there. E

A collection with top musicians! This set of 25 CD's offers superb quality piano music equally superbly executed by outstanding musicians such as Alfred Brendel, Sviatoslav Richter, Helene Grimaud, Hakon Austbo, Emil Gilels, Yevgeny Kissin… and the list goes on. Because of its repertoire and the outstanding performers The Piano Collection is an excellent choice for both newly "recruited" music lovers and connoisseurs.

Recently there seems to be an increasing interest in the music of Johann Michael Haydn. For a long time he was only mentioned as being the younger brother of Franz Joseph, and a good friend of Mozart, but his music was almost completely ignored. From time to time a record with sacred music or chamber music was released, but he was't appearing on concert programmes and in the record catalogue frequently. 2006 was the bicentennial of his death, and this apparently led to a number of new recordings with his music. One must hope this isn't a temporary wave, but the beginning of a thorough and serious exploration of his oeuvre.