I have various recordings of various sonatas, and am more-or-less familiar with all of them (more familiar with some...) but haven't got around to getting a Complete Sonatas-type set. Does anybody happen to have a recommendation for a 'good all-rounder' sort of thing that can provide a decent basis from which to build a collection of this repertoire?
Some may disagree with me, but I am very fond of Brendel's complete set which looks like this:
Thanks very much Turfers. I'll be sure to check that one out.
Any comments on La clemenza di Tito, Robert? It's the mature Mozart opera I hardly know and I keep thinking I must get to know it better. Does Jacobs have a USP?
Listening to
Clemenza di Tito has been a really engaging experience. I would certainly stop short of suggesting that it's categorically a 'masterpiece' (whatever that means...), but it's certainly an incredibly
interesting piece. As most would be aware, it was written at essentially the same time as
Die Zauberflöte, but is a more-or-less 'straight'
opera seria. This is the only performance I'm familiar with, but it does a pretty amazing job of underscoring the weirdness (to these 21st ears, ill-acquainted with
opera seria circa 1791) of what we think of as Mozart's later style filtered into a format that
feels for all the world like Handel.
I Googled USP and came up with 'Unique Selling Proposition'. Is that what you meant? I'm not familiar with any other recordings, so I can't really say. The recitatives (not written by Mozart) are performed exceptionally well - some of the most interesting recitative continuo playing I've heard for a while (on - awesomely - fortepiano, which is an instrument I'm coming to feel a great sense of affection for).
