Yundi dedicates his new album to three of Mozart’s finest sonatas together with the C minor Fantasia, K475, released to coincide with his tour of cities historically connected with the composer. If he has enjoyed a chequered and at times disjointed career since his triumph in the 2000 Chopin Competition in Warsaw, Yundi now provides a superb resolution of past difficulties. Few recent recordings have recreated a greater sense of the inseparable nature of Mozart’s vocal and instrumental inspiration and there is an unfailing awareness of the composer’s unstoppable creative energy. Vehement and large-scaled, his approach is a convincing challenge to a more conventional restraint, a restless Sturm und Drang precursor of Romanticism. The C minor Fantasia is no less vividly characterised than the C minor Sonata, K457, fiercely articulate and dramatic.

In the A minor Sonata, K310, Yundi achieves a special sense of interplay, of the baleful and radiant, of innocence and experience. His focus is unfaltering and here, in particular, he takes advantage of an outstanding instrument. The A major K331 may provide a relief from such minor-key darkness yet it is played here with a rare poetic range and depth. Everything is finely detailed yet never at the expense of line and impetus. Observing all the repeats, Yundi allows you to relish once more Mozart’s tireless invention.

Mozart ‘The Sonata Project – Salzburg’

Piano Sonatas – No 8 in A minor, K310; No 11 in A, K331; No 14 in C minor, K457. Fantasia in C minor, K475

Yundi pf

Warner Classics 5419 79348-5

This review originally appeared in the Summer 2024 issue of International Piano. Never miss an issue – subscribe today