After a cycle of Beethoven Piano Concertos, solo albums of works by Bach and Schubert in addition to a number of award-winning recordings of piano chamber music on Ondine label, pianist Lars Vogt releases an album of Piano Sonatas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). In this album, two baroque-influenced and virtuosic early sonatas are coupled together with a touching A minor Sonata, K310 – written at the time of the composer’s mother’s death – and a delightful, Haydnesque Sonata K333.

Mozart wrote Piano Sonatas K280 and K281 (nos. 2 & 3) most likely in 1774, at the age of 18. The elements of Baroque influence are clearly evident in the K280 Sonata. A prominent feature in the K281 Sonata is, besides its virtuosity, the beautiful slow-movement, Andante amoroso. The K310 Sonata (no.8) was written four years later, during the summer of 1778, and is written in a minor key: a rarity among Mozart’s Sonatas. The K333 was published in 1784, but the time of its composition might have been earlier. This joyful work with virtuosic passages can be described almost as a Piano Concerto for the solo piano.

Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 2 in F, K280
Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 3 in B flat, K281
Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K310
Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 13 in B flat major, K333