Laura Alvini & Enrico Gatti - Mozart: Six Sonates / Variations (2006)

We are so accustomed to speaking of sonatas for violin and piano that, nowadays, it is difficult to imagine that the predecessor of the genre was known as “Sonata for keyboard with violin accompaniment ad libitum ”. Yet all the sonatas composed for the two instruments during the Classical period are expressely designated as ”Sonatas for piano and violin” – the “accompaniment” annotation continuing up to Beethoven’s Opus 30 – and this appellation was still in use at the time Brahms wrote his own sonatas for this chamber combination.

The Baroque era had doubtless multiplied the Sonate a violino solo (actually, with basso continuo) but strictly speaking, this repertoire does not really constitute the origins of the genre as we know it today. To the contrary, we must look for that in the pieces of the young Mozart or, if one wishes to discuss influences, in the music of Schubert.

When the young Mozart arrived in Paris in 1764, he quiclky understood – or rather, Leopold understood for him – that the publication of harpsichord pieces was one of the best ways to make oneself known and earn a bit of money. This was music for salons , capable of dazzling and entertaining the greats of the time. But if one added a violin accompaniment, the effect would be even more successful. However, the accompaniment had to be rather simple and secondary so that its absence not hinder in any way the performance of the piece on the harpsichord alone. It is this design that Mozart’s early sonatas conform.

The interest of the collection which came out in 1778, during Mozart’s second journey to Paris, resides precisely in the fact that Mozart was freeing himself from paternal supervision and the formal constraint which had indoctrinated him up until then. Although, for the title, he still conformed to custom – but we have seen that Beethoven did likewise thirty years later – he gave the violin integral part which became much more essential and personal than what was done at this time. The composition of this collection, presented, like K 6 of 1764, as OPUS ONE, thus marks a crucial date : that of the creation of the concertante style and real “duet” relationship. Leopold’s absence, the influence of Mannheim and the impressions Mozart received during this long journey thus marked these sonatas. The last two (K 304 and K 306) have more personal and sorrowful character, Mozart having lost his mother during this voyage, in Paris. Nonetheless, beginning with these six sonatas, the keyboard piece with ad libitum violin definitely went out of style. Mozart, then Beethoven, would establish the blossoming of the concertante style. And henceforth, there was no longer question of the harpsichord: since his visit to the Stein workshops in Augsburg, in the course of this same journey, Mozart turned the page, and the mention of harpsichord in the title was now solely for sales.

The importance of this collection had escaped Romantic performers who played little Mozart other than late sonatas. The contribution of LAURA ALVINI and ENRICO GATTI – a veritable duo and not simply an occasional get-together – is all the more important. The vibrant, intimist approach of LAURA ALVINI combines perfectly with ENRICO GATTI’s playing, refined to raw emotion. The eloquence of this vision opens up new horizons, underlining how much nostalgia and pain always lies just behind the charm and joy in Mozart’s music. A milestone in the history of interpretation.