[Editor's Note: In the wake of the late-breaking scandal concerning the provenance of Joyce Hatto's recordings, we had the option of removing all Hatto reviews, or leaving them intact and identifying the correct artists, to the extent possible, as we learn them. We have elected the latter, both as a caution and as a way to do some justice to the real artists as we learn their identities. This set is believed to have been taken, at least in part, from Ingrid Haebler's Mozart cycle on Denon. DH]

Joyce Hatto's 1995 Mozart sonata cycle first appeared as single-disc releases on the Concert Artist label. Ten years later the pianist remade portions that evidently did not please her. Her revisions are incorporated in the cycle's current repackaged state. I don't care if these recordings date from 1995 or 1855, because they count among the most elegant, full-bodied, heartfelt, and caring Mozart sonata performances on disc. Scholars may carp about this or that ornament or phrase, but frankly, who cares? Even when Hatto favors slower than common tempos (such as in the F major K. 332 finale and B-flat major K. 333 first movement) every note sings, speaks, and breathes, every texture radiates color and nuance, while the two hands imaginatively yet subtly interact with, complement, and support each other. Even the pianist's softest staccatos are beautifully rounded and well defined.

Not surprisingly, Hatto eschews the fussy agogics and exaggerated accentuations with which more than a few pianists habitually spray-paint these works (browse my Classicstoday.com Mozart reviews to find out who they are!). I hasten to add that Hatto's is not the only Mozartean way. For example, you may prefer more angular and ardent treatments of the C minor K. 475 sonata's first movement to Hatto's symmetrical deliberation, or you may want the six early sonatas more impetuously shaped (Glenn Gould's fluffernutters versus Hatto's lamb stew). Yet Hatto's addictively beautiful sonority, cultured musicianship, and total instrumental mastery yield new insights with each subsequent hearing. Keep the excellent space-saving budget box cycles by Schiff (Decca), Uchida (Philips), and Würtz (Brilliant Classics) on hand for drop-in guests, but save Hatto's Mozart for connoisseurs, and ultimately for the desert island. [1/11/2007]

--Jed Distler