“Francesca Dego excels in delicacy, sweetness and finesse in these refined accounts.”

“Dego and Norrington capture the grace of the teenage Mozart’s music.”

Recording of the Month

Performance *****      Recording *****

“… there is a youthful buoyancy and radiant sparkle about these performances that captures the very essence of Mozart’s Salzburg style …”

“… Francesca Dego, who has made her name in later, flashier repertoire, matches the orchestra’s period sparkle with playing that combines tonal purity, verve and an evident delight in the unexpected… Dego teams up with her regular pianist partner Francesca Leonardi in Mozart’s only minor-key violin sonata.. this is another finely imagined performance, with repeats always a cue for new inflections and colouring, and a spot-on balance between violin and keyboard…”

Classical CD of the Week

“Pairing the veteran Mozartian Norrington – a pioneer of historical performance practice – with the young Italian-American soloist Dego proves inspiring in what promises to be one of the freshest of recent cycles of the Mozart concertos…”

“…Tempos are fleet and flowing, rhythms are alert, detailing is vivid, and the movements either dance or sing, and are stylishly performed, with easeful technique from Dego, and with a sense of artistic conviction and the palpable enjoyment of friends making music in a discussed and absorbed way. In both Concertos Dego chooses appropriate cadenzas by Franco Gulli… also included is one of Mozart’s Sonatas for Piano & Violin, the E-minor K304, Dego partnered by Francesca Leonardi, a two-movement affair, the first given substance by the observance of both repeats, the second a Minuet of haunting expression, played with poignancy…”

“… the first of a concerto set recorded with a slimline Royal Scottish National Orchestra and that irrepressible octogenarian Roger Norrington, conducting as if he were about 22. Everything here is fleet, bouncy, clean, joyful and fresh, an approach entirely fitting for concertos designed for pleasure rather than deep thoughts…” ****