Ulvi Yurtsever wrote:

>B Chasan:
>
>>I rate the Divertimento for Strings K 563 as one of the very greatest
>>works ever written.  And it does not quite get the number of performances
>>it deserves.  Am I completely off base on this?
>
>It's hard to know how far your enthusiasm for this piece goes, but it's
>certainly one of the greatest chamber works Mozart wrote (IMHO); so I'd
>say you're not off base.  OTOH, if you think it ranks with, say, the late
>Beethoven quartets, then I'd say you are off, way off.

I agree that K. 563 is a great work, and would even agree it is
"underplayed." However, to be scientific about it, we should eliminate the
effect that string trios in general are not as frequently heard as quartets
or quintets.  About the only time you hear trios is at mixed chamber
programs (e.g.  Lincoln Center chamber players).  So one would have to ask,
is it less frequently played than the Beethoven trios? The Schoenberg Trio?
How many other serious contenders are there?

Next point:  Nothing that Mozart (or anybody else FTM) wrote can
compare with the Beethoven late quartets.  (Isn't that better than "late
Beethoven?" The latter sounds like he was overdue on a commission or
something!) It's unfair to Mozart to diminish his K.  563 by attempting to
compare.  The reverse is equally true--nothing in Beethoven can compare to
Mozart's K.  563!

Chris Bonds