These discs are gathered together as
originally coupled; the opportunity
might have been taken to regroup the
sonatas chronologically. Maybe only
a critic is going to listen to so much
music in a few days, but I suggest that
the small effort required to listen
to the whole series in chronological
order is worth making, both for Mozart
himself and for Alicia de Larrocha.
She sets her credentials
in the earliest sonata, K.279; unforced
tempi in the outer movements countered
by fingerwork that bubbles with vivacity,
an absolute minimum use of pedal, crisp,
often detached articulation, though
each single note has a warm, rounded
tone, and middle movements kept well
on the move. I wondered if her manner
was not closer to Scarlatti than to
Mozart at times, or at any rate very
conscious of the music’s fortepiano
origins. Might a spot more latent romanticism
be drawn from the Andante of
K.283 without losing sight of the style?
Might the Andante cantabile con espressione
of the A minor Sonata (of which the
outer movements are superb) expand just
a shade more?
I am very glad that
I listened to the whole cycle chronologically
before giving more definite voice to
these criticisms, for I now see that
de Larrocha has deliberately interpreted
the early group of Sonatas (Kk.279-284)
in a more fortepiano manner, evidently
believing that the true Mozartian voice
is still emerging and that we should
remember their roots in earlier composers.
The Adagio of K.332 has all the
gravity one could wish for, and from
this point on the middle movements are
all beautifully and spaciously expressed,
while the outer movements acquire longer
and more singing lines. What is remarkable
about these performances is how they
succeed in expressing everything that
is in the music while remaining wholly
without idiosyncrasies. K.570 is, quite
simply, a wonderful performance of a
wonderful sonata (it is probably the
finest of them all), while aspiring
young pianists could not find a better
model for K.545. There is a tendency
to regard these sonatas as student fare,
not quite on the level of the concertos
for piano and orchestra. Time and again,
as I listened to these records, I was
left feeling that I had underestimated
the music in the past.
I feel a little guilty
about writing so little after some six
hours’ listening, but in view of such
all round excellence there seems little
point in singling out further details.
I dipped into a few recent Brendel performances
for comparison and found a slightly
more nervous Mozart in his hands, the
pianist ever willing to zoom into tiny
details. Since his points are always
most perceptive, and he does not allow
them to hold up the longer line, this
is also Mozart playing that demands
to be heard. However, the Brendel recordings
do not amount to a complete cycle as
yet.
Altogether, then, Alicia
de Larrocha’s Mozart cycle, well recorded
with plenty of bloom on the sound, seems
an ideal buy. The booklet notes are
quite extensive. Though presented as
a single essay, from the way they dart
back and forth I think they must actually
be taken from the notes to the original
separate CDs, printed consecutively,
to occasionally bewildering effect.
Once you have got used to this they
are very good. Completists should note
that the composite sonata K.547a, included
in some editions, is not given here;
nor is the C minor Fantasia, K.396,
which was completed by another hand.
Christopher Howell
Alicia
de Larrocha (piano) 