Piano Sonata in C Major, No. 7, K.309
Piano Sonata in D Major, No. 8, K.311
Piano Sonata in C Major, No. 10, K.330
Piano Sonata in C minor, No. 14, K.457
Piano Sonata in F Major, No. 15, K.533/494

There ... I've done it! Listened to all of Mozart's Piano Sonatas and to my amazement, am still of sound mind. Combined with my previous reviews of Volume 1, Vol. 2 & 3 and Volume 4, this latest release concludes pianist Orli Shaham's complete overview of Mozart's Piano Sonatas, but it doesn't conclude my listening sessions. And that is saying a lot coming from a guy who once said: "I've always considered Mozart to be a pettifogging composer, more concerned with trivial and repetitive details than substance, and have never understood the designation of 'genius' attached to his name." But hey, I owe my newly refreshed perspective to Orli Shaham's insightful and perspicacious playing.

As expressed in Volume 1's review, her playing is defined by expressive and varied phrasing, always convinced of where it's leading. She even makes Mozart's overuse of the Alberti bassline sound fresh and nuanced rather than a drudgery. And best of all is how she avoids the common pitfall of painting Mozart's portrait as a dainty child prodigy, and instead brings out his free and youthful spirit, an essential feature of his melodic lines. There is even a robust quality to her dynamic details which here and there, foreshadow Beethoven's severity. Under her hands, this is not simply the music of cute little powdered-wig Wolfgang, but the music of a master of the keyboard who knew exactly how to make the piano sing and dance.