Mozart: The Two Piano Quartets K478, K493
The Nash Ensemble
(Marianne Thorsen – violin
Lawrence Power – viola
Paul Watkins – cello
lan Brown – piano)
“Mozart’s piano quartets, sharply contrasted, are among the finest of his chamber works, with K478 bringing depths that G minor always seems to draw from him. This new performance … has a better, more just balance, so that sparkling piano is a constant delight … partnered by an exceptionally strong trio of string players … lighter and faster than rivals, yet dazzlingly clear… The E flat K493 … more orchestral texture, but again this performance is lighter and the slow movement more tenderly expressive. In the finale too the Nash play with extra sparkle, with rhythms jauntily sprung … far more charming than … rivals, and the rapid triplet figuration is a delight to the ear … this new offering stands among the finest.”(Gramophone)
Piano Quartet in G minor, K478 (1785)
[1] I: Allegro 14:24
[2] II: Andante 6:57
[3] III: Rondo: Allegro moderato 7:45
Piano Quartet in E flat, K493 (I786)
[4] I: Allegro 15:20
[5] Il: Larghetto 13:22
[6] III: Allegretto 8:51