Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
6 Wiener Sonatinen (1786): No. 1 in C major [10:15]; No. 2 in A major [9:28]; No. 3 in D major [5:58]; No. 4 in B flat major [8:28]; No. 5 in F major [7:27]; No. 6 in C major [11:52]
Meiko Miyazawa (piano)
rec. Antwerp, 2010
TALENT DOM 2929 04 SACD [53:54]
Mozart’s ‘Vienna Sonatinas’ K439b are arrangements of original pieces written for musician friends in Vienna, and in particular the clarinettist Anton Stadler. As such they were conceived on an informal scale, for performance among friends rather than for an audience in a larger auditorium. The exact circumstances surrounding these compositions and these arrangements remain shrouded in mystery, however, although the nature of the music is hardly in doubt, nor its characteristic personality.
Meiko Miyazawa’s performances are nicely recorded and tastefully turned in tempo and phrasing. Perhaps more characterful nuances of expressive shading could be found in this music, but in truth these slight pieces do not benefit if they are heard one after another in sequence. The recorded piano tone is somewhat bland and in this repertoire a smaller instrument or even a fortepiano might have been preferable in order to achieve that fusion of intimacy, tenderness and fluency that is unique to this composer.
Nicely recorded and tastefully turned.