26 VIRTUS Mozart the refined virtuoso Should the choice of the so-called ‘easy’ Sonata in C major be seen as a provocation on the part of the performer? Mozart's image is that of a virtuoso in his own works, the cadenzas of which he improvised. In this case, the work was by no means intended for beginners, because virtuosity is concerned with demonstrating a certain simplicity that is a guarantee of perfection. It consists in maintaining perfectly balanced tension and articulation. Michel Dalberto explains: ‘Every note is imbued with a meaning. When I approach a work by Mozart, whether it's a sonata, a concerto or a piece of chamber music, I recount a story or, more precisely, I imagine a scene from an opera. In this music, the confusion of genres is permanent: an aria underpins a sonata and a quartet, a symphony. I also have to admit that playing this sonata again, which I haven't played for years, is a particular pleasure. It's not the same work that I'm discovering because I don't feel the same things in the same way. I need to bring out the flexibility in the vocal line, the imaginary dialogues, in short a ‘humanity’. The story enriches itself through the repeats, which have to be varied and performed in a spirit that suggests improvisation.’
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