“In the tent at Newport’s Castle Hill Inn with stunning ocean views, duo-pianists Drew Petersen and Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner opened last Tuesday with Mozart Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 358 for one piano, four hands. Mozart wrote four complete duo-sonatas between 1772 and 1787, this one coming in the spring of 1774 in Salzburg, alongside Symphonies 29 in A Major and 30 in D Major, one of the Litanies and a work for two violins and orchestra. Not yet 20, Mozart was already showing signs of maturity. K 358 shows subtle use of canonic counterpoint, chromaticism in line and harmonic function, a flair for the dramatic (Mozart was already experimenting with his early Italian serial and comic operas; 1774 saw the beginnings of La finta giardiniera), and of course Mozart’s ever-present sense of humor. The centerpiece of this fine work is the middle Adagio; simple in form, it contains an artfully crafted and serenely beautiful melodic line. The duo delivered it with subtlety and nuance, while giving crisp and clean takes on the outer movements.”
Stephen Martorella
The Boston Musical Intelligencer
