Quite why performers and record companies insist on treating Mozart's Church (or ''Epistle'') Sonatas as if they were organ concertos escapes me. The organ's role in these charming little allegros—composed during the 1770s to fill gaps in the service at Salzburg Cathedral—is rarely much more than that of continuo, even in all but one of the seven sonatas to have written-out organ parts. Only K336 (which actually has parts for two organs—one solo, one ripieno) can really consider itself well and truly in the concerto mould even to the point of having a cadenza. The majority of the other sonatas are essentially chamber music for two violins and bass. A one-to-a-part approach is the one adopted for such works by several of this recording's current rivals, and to perform them as here with a modern chamber orchestra is inevitably to misrepresent the music somewhat. Having said that, I would certainly not wish to criticize the spirit of these conductorless performances. This is some of Mozart's sunniest and most uncomplicated music, and the bright, glad-hearted playing of the Ferenc Erkel Chamber Orchestra matches its mood well enough. Recorded in a spacious but not over-resonant acoustic, the sound has considerable presence and the string-playing plenty of robust life, though it is not always scrupulously together. Janos Sebestyen uses a neat-toned and cleanly registered organ to perform his solos with nimbleness and clarity.
If cost is an important consideration, you'll find this recording an indisputably good buy. Even if it isn't there's still much to recommend it, but you may well want to consider one of the alternatives, especially if a chamber-style performance is more to your liking. Peter Hurford and his ad hoc modern-instrument Dutch band on Decca show great polish and refinement, but end up sounding rather cool; London Baroque are more gutsy on Harmonia Mundi, though with rougher edges and with the three sonatas for larger ensemble (K263, 278 and 329) left out, and the King's Consort on Hyperion provide straightforward, sweetly recorded performances that on balance probably just about makes them a first recommendation.'