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04/21/2026
“Mozart: Sonatas for Piano and Violin, Volume 4”
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: 12 Variations for Piano and Violin in G major, K. 359 – 6 Variations for Piano and Violin in G minor, K. 360 – Sonata for Piano and Violin n° 30 in C major, K. 403 – Sonata for Piano and Violin n° 29 in A major, K. 402 – Sonata for Piano and Violin n° 17 in B‑Flat major, K. 570
Claudio Cruz (violin), Olga Kopylova (piano)
Recording: São Paulo, Brazil (March 6, 2026) – 73’47
Azul Music AMDA2306 (Digital release) – Booklet in English
 
Nothing in this digital-only album’s labeling indicates why the sonatas featured here (together with a couple of theme-and-variations) are basically curiosities, in spite of Köchel numbers denoting mature or even late Mozart. In fact, two of the sonatas are not entirely by Mozart: the finales of the C major and A major Sonatas each having been left unfinished at his death and completed by one Maximilian Stadler. Who knows how Stadler would have fared with the Requiem, but on this more modest scale he is no slouch, providing an engaging development and recap for the former and finishing the latter’s rather brief fugue.
Each is a welcome alternative to the rondo that typically concludes such works. I was glad to hear these engaging works, which don’t deserve the relative obscurity their mixed authorship seems to have left them in—the violin sonatas in toto being one of the more neglected corners of Mozart’s chamber œuvre. If the genre didn’t usually seem to evoke the composer’s deepest expressive vein, the limited color range may be partly to blame. I recently heard a concert performance of the fairly popular K. 378 Sonata in an arrangement for clarinet quartet, in which the addition of clarinet and cello brought an extra heft and intensity to what could otherwise seem by Mozart’s standards a merely pleasant work. But K. 403, in particular, has some striking ideas, engagingly handled, even if Mozart, for whatever reason, lost interest in seeing them all through.
K. 570 is another matter, a sonata for solo piano with an oft‑omitted violin part of uncertain provenance. A later, lengthier, and perhaps more harmonically sophisticated work than those mentioned above, it may concede something to them in terms of charm. But all are approached with quiet and tasteful dignity by Claudio Cruz and Olga Kopylova, who as the release’s title indicates have been working through the Mozart sonata cycle. I haven’t heard the previous installments; however, judging from this one, both are sensitive and more than competent performers who fall somewhat short of distinction.
Kopylova’s pianism could be brighter-toned and more sparkling, but she is certainly assured and never becomes precious on the one hand or marmoreal on the other. Cruz plays with unaffected musicality and offers some lovely quiet fiddling, especially in the “Andante” of K. 403, but his tone, while even and not unpleasant, is a bit thin and monochromatic; more pointed inflection would be welcome, too. A real virtuoso violinist—for instance, the young Oscar Shumsky in K. 570—makes it easier to sit up and take notice of this music. But our duo brings an honest musicality and warmth that would be welcome in concert and makes this recording, if not remotely a must‑listen, an enjoyable hour or so. (I should note that each fast movement except the finale of K. 570, a rondo, includes the second‑half repeat, in case that makes a difference to prospective listeners.)
Samuel Wigutow
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