Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Miracle of greatness and perfection
Comment: The written word isn't a natural medium for me, and so isn't the English language. Anyway I feel it's important to weigh up against the unfavourable ratings for these recordings. Mitsuko Uchida is for me one of the two truly great pianists alive; Sokolov is the other one. Uchida's playing, including that on her complete Mozart sonatas recordings, is on a supreme level. It's impossible for me to understand, and therefore very difficult to take seriously, notions that her playing should lack life, warmth, soul, naturalness or whatever. It has all that and much much more. Please read Marcolorenzo's review, I agree completely with him. Come on, Uchida's Mozart is a miracle of greatness and perfection!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sparkling and Precise Classicism
Comment: The effect of these interpretations is one of precision, clarity and luminosity; i.e. Musical Classicism. It's true that they may seem a bit emotionally restrained (that's what classical restraint is all about however), too symmetrical in feeling and perhaps too personalised in their choice of tempi or touch, but the effect is very beautiful and refined. The interpretation is very classical without late Baroque, Rococo, or Romantic influences. Perhaps this is not 100% historically or musically accurate, but overall taken within their own context as one artist's interpretation of Mozart, I like the view. Other pianists have other views. I definitely do not think that Maria Pires for Brilliant is on the same level as these interpretations, as one review has suggested, nor is Alicia della Roccia technically at the level of Uchida either, although she does convey another type of feeling and view which is perhaps a more feminine and romantic view. It's a matter of taste and expectation. I think Uchida does gives you an insight into these pieces that is very personal yet very classical at the same time with great detail and which conveys great musical delight and playfulness as well.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Very tight but not warm
Comment: An amazing technique is on display here, but it's all too clinical for my liking. The phrasing bothers me: there's lots going on but there are abrupt changes in dynamics mid-phrase that I find harsh. The amazingly clean, lively staccato playing is technically impressive but it gets tiring very quickly considering just how short and sharp Uchida's staccato is. And I find the tempi generally too fast.
I have heard Uchida live in recitals of Schubert piano sonatas and a Mozart piano quintet and came away with a warm tingling feeling that only great artists can give you. Unforgettable concerts. Uchida's playing in the Mozart quintet of the concert I attended was warm and broad, really complementing the warmth and breadth of the strings. It's a shame these sonatas don't have that warmth.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Comment: Uchida's interpretation of the sonatas is insightful and at times moving. This is a must have box set for anyone wanting to have all of the sonatas in one collection. On the point of the music itself, I used to overlook Mozart's solo piano music in favour of his concerti and the operas. So, when I bought this set I was amazed how much invention there is in these often intimate works. The famous one is the A major with the Rondo "alla turca", but for me the best one is the No.8 sonata (A minor). It looks forward to the Romantic period with its melancholic air and surely an influence on the young Beethoven when he would have studied the sonatas, and then went on to produce some of his best works on the keyboard.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Comment: For the most part I have really enjoyed this set of CDs, but some of Uchida's tempi are too extreme for me. For example, the Adagio movement of K280 sounds painfully slow to me, while the opening movement of K457 seems ever so slightly rushed. She plays with great delicacy but I think I would have preferred a little more legato especially in the slow movements (though perhaps this is because of my tendency to hear Mozart's melodies as somehow ultimately vocal). Nevertheless, this is a worthwhile addition to my collection, especially at this price!
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