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CDA67246
Archive Service Only


Recording details: November 2000
Champs Hill, West Sussex, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Ken Blair
Release date: September 2001
Total duration: 66 minutes 59 seconds

GRAMOPHONE CRITICS' CHOICE
SUNDAY TIMES RECORD OF THE YEAR

'This is a wonderful recording … as good a performance of both splendid works as you are likely to encounter for a long time' (Fanfare, USA)

'One of Mozart's most carefree yet paradoxically profound healing masterpieces, played with skill and love' (The Sunday Times)

‘Now eclipses Grumiaux as my top recommendation in both works’ (BBC Music Magazine)

'This … is the most glowing and perceptive account since the Grumiaux's, and deserves to win friends for this wonderful music among a younger generation of music-lovers' (The Sunday Times)

‘Right from the opening chords one is in no doubt that this is going to be a powerful, rich-toned reading of what must surely be the longest, as well as one of the greatest, of Mozart’s chamber works. And so it proves’ (International Record Review)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Divertimento, K563 & Duo, K424
Leopold String Trio
LISTEN TO ALL EXTRACTS
Divertimento for violin, viola and cello in E flat, K563
1
Movement 1: Allegro  [8'41]
2
Movement 2: Adagio  [12'57]
3
Movement 3: Menuetto. Allegretto  [5'09]
4
Movement 4: Andante  [7'02]
5
Movement 5: Menuetto. Allegretto  [5'48]
6
Movement 6: Allegro  [5'57]
Duo for violin and viola in B flat, K424
7
Movement 1: Adagio – Allegro  [8'39]
Marianne Thorsen (violin), Scott Dickinson (viola)
8
Movement 2: Andante cantabile  [3'47]
Marianne Thorsen (violin), Scott Dickinson (viola)
9
Movement 3: Tema con variazioni. Andante grazioso – Allegretto  [8'59]
Marianne Thorsen (violin), Scott Dickinson (viola)
Both works presented on this disc conform readily to an early aesthetic theory of the term 'Divertimenti', that music is a language of the emotions. In K563 Mozart adopts the light, engaging divertimento manner as a starting point for all six movements, but in each case introduces surprise elements that have the effect of enriching and deepening the music. This is not a 'light' work by any means, but an intensely passionate 'tour de force'. K424 for violin and viola is both lively and lyrical, and the wide variety of melodic ideas, elaborate contrapuntal exchanges and ambitious technical demands are especially appealing. From the outset the considerable poise and virtuosity of the supremely talented players of The Leopold String Trio engage the listener in a soundworld of rich textures, elegant melodic lines, pastoral interludes and brilliant concerto-style passagework.