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Track(s) taken from CDA68421/2

Fantasia in D minor, K397

composer
uncertain but presumably Vienna not earlier than 1787; probably completed by August Eberhard Müller (1767-1817)

Angela Hewitt (piano)
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Recording details: December 2022
Kulturstiftung Marienmünster, Germany
Produced by Ludger Böckenhoff
Engineered by Ludger Böckenhoff
Release date: October 2023
Total duration: 6 minutes 6 seconds

Cover artwork: Photograph. Laura Ranftler
Arcangel
 

Other recordings available for download

Marc-André Hamelin (piano)
Hilda Dederich (piano)
Wanda Landowska (piano)

Reviews

‘In many respects, Angela Hewitt’s solo Mozart recordings represent a modern-day parallel to Walter Gieseking’s 1953 EMI cycle. Her playing is characterised by rhythmic steadiness and symmetry, uniformity in regard to repeated notes, and the most evenly balanced chords on the planet. Tone colour, nuance and articulation result from meticulous fingerwork and balances between the hands, with scant aid from the sustain pedal. Her dynamic schemes appear to be well worked out in advance, with each trill, ornament and embellishment calibrated to the proverbial nines. If you want Mozart from an Apollonian vantage point, with spotless surfaces and impeccable proportions, Hewitt is your ideal pianist … both the C minor and D minor Fantasias (K396 and 397) stand out for Hewitt’s radiant, full-bodied tone and intelligently dramatic pacing, where the timbral diversity of her beloved Fazioli grand comes into its own … thanks to Hewitt’s longtime producer Ludger Böckenhoff, Hyperion’s sound does full justice to Hewitt’s artistry’ (Gramophone)

‘Wherever you turn in this double album, it’s clear that Hewitt has approached this second volume of Mozart piano sonatas, part of a complete set, with her customary meticulous style … an excellent recital that yields rewards on every listen’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘Hewitt plays all these pieces with the greatest subtlety and care. I noticed the way she carefully differentiates different types of touch, the way her nimble fingers coast through every awkward corner and her sensitive phrasing … the bright tone of her Fazioli piano is admirably suited to the character of these works, and these performances seem to me ideal accounts of them’ (MusicWeb International)» More
Mozart’s assorted shorter solo keyboard works—variations, rondos, fantasias and dance movements—include some of his most personal and inward-looking music. Probably dating from 1782, the Fantasia in D minor, K397, is a Mozartian response to the fantasias of C P E Bach, and a forerunner of the great Fantasia in C minor, K475. Like that work it probably began life as an improvisation. After a sequence of brooding arpeggios, the first section consists of three statements of a D minor theme replete with sighing appoggiaturas, like a mournful soprano aria. Each statement takes a different direction before dissolving into cadenza-like figuration. Finally D minor resolves into D major courtesy of an innocent, song-like Allegretto melody. Mozart’s autograph then breaks off in mid-flow, prompting the publisher Breitkopf to add ten concluding bars. Like several other pianists, Marc-André Hamelin rejects Breitkopf’s solution in favour of a newly composed ending of his own.

from notes by Richard Wigmore © 2015

Certaines œuvres pour clavier solo plus courtes—variations, rondos, fantaisies et mouvements de danse—comptent parmi les musiques les plus personnelles et les plus introspectives de Mozart. Datant probablement de 1782, la Fantaisie en ré mineur, K397, répond aux fantaisies de C. P. E. Bach et préfigure la grande Fantaisie en ut mineur, K475. Comme elle, elle commença certainement par être une improvisation. Passé une série d’arpèges menaçants, la première section comprend trois énonciations d’un thème en ré mineur doté d’appoggiatures soupirantes, comme dans une dolente aria de soprano. Chaque énonciation prend une direction différente avant de se dissoudre dans une figuration façon cadence. Finalement, ré mineur se résout en ré majeur grâce à une innocente mélodie d’Allegretto en manière de chanson. L’autographe de Mozart s’arrête alors en plein milieu, obligeant l’éditeur Breitkopf à ajouter dix mesures conclusives. Cette solution, Marc-André Hamelin, comme d’autres pianistes, la rejette au profit d’une conclusion nouvelle de son cru.

extrait des notes rédigées par Richard Wigmore © 2015
Français: Hypérion

Einige von Mozarts verschiedenen, kürzeren Solowerken für Klavier—Variationen, Rondos, Fantasien und Tanzsätze—gehören zu seinen persönlichsten und innigsten Kompositionen. Die wohl aus dem Jahre 1782 stammende Fantasia in d-Moll, KV 397, ist Mozarts Antwort auf die Fantasien von C. Ph. E. Bach und verweist auf die große Fantasia in c-Moll, KV 475. Wie diese ging sie wahrscheinlich aus einer Improvisation hervor. Nach einer Sequenz grüblerischer Arpeggien folgt im ersten Teil dreimal ein d-Moll-Thema voller Seufzer-Appoggiaturen, wie eine klagende Sopranarie. Jeder Eintritt des Themas nimmt eine andere Richtung, bis es sich in einer Kadenz-artigen Figur auflöst. Mittels einer unschuldigen Liedmelodie (Allegretto) geht d-Moll schließlich in D-Dur über. Mozarts Autograph bricht dann mittendrin ab, woraufhin der Verleger Breitkopf noch zehn abschließende Takte hinzugefügt hat. Wie mehrere andere Pianisten verwirft Marc-André Hamelin Breitkopfs Lösung zugunsten eines von ihm selbst neukomponierten Schlusses.

aus dem Begleittext von Richard Wigmore © 2015
Deutsch: Christiane Frobenius

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