Mozart Piano Sonatas Vol. 1

Label: Canary Classics [CC19]
Released: October 30, 2020

Orli Shaham, piano

Over the past year, Orli Shaham recorded all 18 piano sonatas by Mozart at historic Mechanics Hall in Worcester, MA. On October 30, 2020, Canary Classics releases Volume I of this five-CD series, including Piano Sonata No. 3, K. 281, Piano Sonata No. 13, K. 333, and Piano Sonata No. 17, K. 570; all in Bb major.

In the words of Ms. Shaham, "Mozart’s three B-flat sonatas are so varied and different in their inventive brilliance. Each has a truly individual and distinct voice, yet together they stand on a timeline that clearly maps Mozart’s development from his late teens to full maturity.”

Guiding Orli Shaham's interpretation of Mozart’s keyboard music is her attention to the vocal nature of each sonata. Form, harmony and rhythm are key elements to her approach, but it is Mozart’s singing line that especially captures her imagination. For example, the Sonata K. 333 begins as if it were one of Mozart’s operas; a single melodic idea of which Orli Shaham says, “Mozart taught the keyboard to sing”.

Mozart’s artist genius lays in his willingness allow the performer to capture the mood in the music. Orli Shaham carries this off with aplomb. “Since I was recording it, I decided to go ‘all out’ with the ornamentation,” said Ms. Shaham, varying trills, grace notes, and other ornamentation with each successive take, to elicit the drama, humor and playfulness of the sonatas.