Mozart Franseca Dego Timothy Rodpit

Following a highly successful series of concerts in the summer of 2022, Francesca Dego, Timothy Ridout, Laura van der Heijden, and Federico Colli headed into the studio to record Mozart’s Piano Quartets. Whilst he may not have been the first composer to add a viola to the popular piano trio, Mozart was certainly the first to do so with such outstanding success. In his piano quartets, the strings become an equal partner to the piano, rather than mere accompaniment – much as in his piano concertos.

Following her critically acclaimed recording with Sir Roger Norrington and the RSNO of violin concertos by Mozart, Francesca Dego turns to a selection of his violin sonatas with her long-term recital partner, Francesca Leonardi. Dego comments: ‘Francesca and I have been playing together for seventeen years, more than half my life and the totality of my career. To work as a duo on a regular basis means reaching common interpretative solutions, ones that sum up each player’s qualities, and creates a great sense of mutual responsibility. What you do together somehow feels naturally complete. We decided to build this album around our very favourite Sonata, KV 454 in B flat major, which we had been performing for many years and in which Mozart’s simplicity and flamboyance coexist in perfect harmony.’

Following their critically acclaimed first volume of Mozart’s violin concertos (CHAN 20234), Francesca Dego and Sir Roger Norrington complete the set, once again with outstanding support from a reduced Royal Scottish National Orchestra. This cycle not only represents the first time Sir Roger has recorded these concertos, but the present album is also his final recording project. All five concertos were written before Mozart was twenty; nevertheless, his rapid development as a composer is evident in the progression from the first to the fifth, which has an unusual Adagio section within the first movement, an extensive slow movement, and of course the extensive ‘Turkish’ episode in the final movement (probably based on Hungarian folk music). Whilst given on modern instruments with metal strings, these are performances immersed in Norrington’s lifetime of experience in period performance practise. As The Sunday Times noted of the first album: ‘Pairing the veteran Mozartian Norrington – a pioneer of historical performance practice – with the young Italian-American soloist Dego proves inspiring in what promises to be one of the freshest of recent cycles of the Mozart concertos.’

The virtuoso violinist Francesca Dego joins forces with the legendary conductor and period performance pioneer Sir Roger Norrington for this recording of Mozart’s Third and Fourth Violin Concertos – the first time either soloist or conductor has recorded the works. The outstanding musicians of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra provide the accompaniment, with reduced numbers of strings and antiphonal violin seating to replicate the size and seating of the Salzburg court orchestra which gave the first performances of these works. Norrington’s attention to detail and style is enthusiastically embraced by soloist and orchestra, resulting in a beautifully fresh and captivating interpretation of these well-known works. Dego completes the album with the Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 1 No. 4, with her regular recital partner, Francesca Leonardi.

The renowned horn player Martin Owen is joined by the violinist Francesca Dego and pianist Alessandro Taverna in this varied and compelling programme. Mozart's Horn Quintet, KV 407 is one of the earliest examples of the horn in chamber music - although this partnership was embraced by Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and Schumann among many others. The Quintet is unusually scored for horn, violin, two violas, and cello, but the majority of the melodic interplay in the work occurs between the horn and the violin, so replacing the lower strings with piano works very well. Brahms's Horn Trio was the first major work for this instrumentation, and remains one of the finest in the repertoire.