MOZART: SONATAS NOS. 6-8; RONDO IN D,...

MOZART: SONATAS NOS. 6-8; RONDO IN D, K. 485. Maria Joao Pires, piano. Denon C37-7387 (compact disc). Pires delivers Mozart without preciousness, or many tears, either, in this second disc of her complete survey of the composer’s keyboard output. She mines a vein of architectonic logic impressively in the D-major Sonata (Denon considerately provides banding for all sections of the third-movement Theme and Variations). Elsewhere, her often urgent, rugged playing leans to clipped phrase endings and expansive tempos, an approach which undervalues the tragic sentiment of the opening movement of the A-minor. The recording dates from 1974, but Denon’s CD sonics catches Pires’ Steinway with uncommon vividness.