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MENAHEM PRESSLER 19
Why is that?
Mozart reaches incomparable summits of beauty. And incidentally, he had no
greater admirer than Beethoven. Mozart’s music gives the impression it was
dictated fromheaven. It’s almost a divine gesture.You’ll find virtually no corrections
on his manuscripts. Right to the end of his life, Beethoven repeatedly cited the
music of Mozart. Speaking personally, I owe my biggest successes with the Berlin
Philharmonic to Mozart. I’m thinking for example of the Concerto no.17 with
Semyon Bychkov, or no.23 with Simon Rattle.
But of course his concertos are more popular than his sonatas . . .
Yes, and for an obvious reason: Mozart put every aspect of his art and his genius in
his concertos. All the same, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that his piano concertos
are more accomplished than his sonatas. They’re certainly more accomplished
than the trios, which are more formal pieces in which he didn’t invest himself as
deeply as in his piano concertos and sonatas. Inmy view, the sonatas are a product
of sheer genius: dramatic, pre-Romantic, running the full gamut of emotions. They
contain impish humour, drama, lightness, virtuosity and so much else. All types of
sentiment are represented there in their subtlest inflections.