It could be a movie scenario: Mozart's trip to and stay in Paris. As a viewer, you follow closely the 22-year-old composer together with his mother. En route in Mannheim, the young adult Mozart falls hopelessly in love with a budding singer. Father Mozart is furious. "Go on, to Paris you!" he urges his son by letter. When he arrived in Paris, success was hard to come by. To make matters worse,
… Mozart's mother died suddenly, probably exhausted by homesickness and boredom. Distraught, Mozart set about composing and in a few days put his poignant Piano Sonata in A, KV 310 to paper. This album by Belgian pianist Arnaud de Pasquale could serve as an imaginary soundtrack. Naturally, the aforementioned piano sonata is on the program, complemented by the wistful Violin Sonata in e, KV 304 and Variations on the song Au bord d'une fontaine, KV 360, pieces Mozart also completed in Paris. De Pasquale, violinist Jérôme van Waerbeke and soprano Perrine Devillers complete the album with some airs by Mozart's contemporary Antoine Albanese, a retired castrato singer famous at the time. No doubt Mozart must have heard his music in Paris. The final track is definitely the highlight of the album. In it, the musicians interweave Albanese's setting of the song Au bord d'une fontaine with Mozart's violin variations of the same name. It makes for fascinating cross-connections (JWvR).more
