Mozart's Real Musical Father
Duo Pleyel explores the seminal role a musical father figure can play in shaping another composer.
About this album
Following their superb Dussek album (5 stars in BBC Music Magazine ), Duo Pleyel’s Richard Egarr and Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya explore the seminal role a musical father figure can play in shaping another composer. From Mozart’s first meeting with Johann Christian Bach (the ‘London Bach’) as a young boy in England in 1764, an extraordinary musical bond was forged between the two great composers. The life-long influence of the older musician on Mozart is often seriously under-appreciated, yet Mozart quoted musical fragments and themes by Johann Christian throughout his life, none more poignantly than in the slow movement of his A major piano concerto K.414, written shortly after Johann Christian’s death. The programme on this recording brings their four-hands music together to show both the influence and individuality of these wonderful composers.
Catalogue No.: CKD655
Label: Linn Records
Barcode: 691062065528
Released: November 2022
'The finely played Allegretto from the Sonata in A major gives a perfect insight into the qualities that Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya and Richard Egarr exert.’ - Diapason, 4 stars
‘Nepomnyashchaya and Egarr are vivid advocates of music that is all about hedonistic enjoyment.’ - Gramophone
'An essential addition to the recorded legacy of this music. The sonatas K. 358 and 381 are erudite and enchanting, and the K.501 Variations are absolutely revelatory.' - BBC Music Magazine, 5 stars, Instrumental Choice (Jan 2023)
