The Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires has long been associated with the music of Mozart. Her delicacy of touch, vibrancy of phrasing and sense of fantasy mark her out as one of the elect who can touch his keyboard music without coarsening or simplifying it.

She has made two complete cycles of the sonatas. Reissued here is the first one, from the days in the 1970s when she first appeared on the international scene and won over listeners with a graceful purity of approach that left more famous names trailing in her wake.

The later cycle brought added refinement, but anyone who is captivated by this still undervalued corpus – too difficult for beginners, yet scorned by many professionals in search of gaudier glories – will want to hear this set.

Contents:
CD 1
- Sonata No.1 in C K279
- Sonata No.2 in F K280
- Sonata No.3 in B flat K281
- Sonata No.4 in E flat K282
- Sonata No.5 in G K283

CD 2
- Sonata No.6 in D K284
- Sonata No.7 in C K309
- Sonata No.9 in A minor K310
- Rondo in D K485

CD 3
- Sonata No.8 in D K311
- Sonata No.10 in C K330
- Sonata No.11 in A K331
- Rondo in A minor K511

CD 4
- Sonata No.12 in F K332
- Sonata No.13 in B flat K333
- Fantasia in C minor K475
- Sonata No.14 in C minor K457

CD 5
- Sonata No.15 in F K533 & 494
- Sonata No.16 in C K545
- Sonata No.17 in B flat K570
- Sonata No.18 in D K576
- Fantasia in D minor K397