Collection Listening Log

[Todd A]

The last version of the Musica Callada I found, from an integral set recorded by two pianists in 1990. Antoni Besses, the younger of the two pianists, plays the music on the disc under consideration. The disc opens with Cants Magics, and Besses plays with a big, bass heavy sonority somewhat lacking in high frequency edge or sparkle. Part of the sonic signature could be due to streaming, but it's more likely the recording. Anyway, Mr Besses plays the opening work in a fluent style, and one where he also pedals and uses finger legato to create a dreamy, hazy sound at times, but he also plays incisively, though without hard edges, and with ample weight. To the main work. It's a speedy version at just under 61', and it is presented as a single, continuous track. (Also, whoever ripped the source disc for Amazon did not make a secure copy as digital noise is audible.) The work opens with a slightly faster than normal Angelico which nonetheless meets its designation nicely. As with other fast versions, pauses and sustains end up being less pronounced, with the tradeoff being that the music flows together piece to piece more steadily. That's not to say that the individual pieces lack character. The Afflito e penoso, if more direct and less expressive than other versions, offers a notable contrast to the preceding Placide. In the second book, Besses starts the Tranquillo-tres calme with swift and simultaneously urgent but soft-edged playing, while the loud playing is not especially loud. (This is definitely the recording since Albert Attenelle's recording, also streamed via Amazon, has a wider dynamic range.) The following Severo-serieux, while weighty, shows the potential limitation of a fast approach as it lacks impact. The third book often ends up displaying some more searching playing, but here it is a bit glossed over. Besses ends up saving his best playing for the final book, which, while still quick, is less austere than others, and more tense, and here the recorded sound seems to have more dynamic range. This is not a bad recording, but it's not up with the best. I should probably listen to the rest of the set, just to hear what else is there. Plus, there's the novelty of two pianists presenting the cycle.

 

[Todd A]

Remei Cortes Ayats recorded a complete Mompou cycle for Pavane back in the 80s, making this one of the older complete sets after the composer's and Pierre Huybregts'. Though the sound is compressed via streaming, it still sounds quite nice overall, and in the Charmes that opens the disc, Ms Cortes plays with a deft combination of simplicity and beauty.

Cortes plays the Musica Callada at a very fast overall tempo of just over 60'. The swiftness is evident throughout, and it makes itself known in the opening Angelico. The piece is quite lovely, but the playing is more about tension, subtle and not as subtle, and while sustains are used to good effect, pauses are less frequently deployed. Occasionally, expression seems somewhat wanting, as in the plain first third of Afflitto e penso, and while the Legato metallico has the metallico part down, it's comparatively rushed. The same holds true for the second book Allegretto, though here it almost morphs the playing into a more austere Rodrigo piece. The Tranquillo-tres calme is characterized by an agitated feeling, and the loud playing never sounds particularly loud. Most of the playing retains the speedy demeanor, which yields a not especially impressionistic Calme, though in the third book, which does become a bit starker sounding, Cortes blurs together passages of the Luminoso to good effect. The fourth book is a bit starker yet, but as with the prior books, the comparatively fast playing strips away some expressivity. The final movement ends up sounding more astringent and "modern" than any version to this point, with dynamic and tempo contrasts largely erased. While there are some good moments, this one is not a favorite for me.

 

[Todd A]

My only prior exposure to Alice Ader was her complete Mussorgsky, which did not knock my socks off. As such, I wavered a bit on buying the disc when I found this, so I went for a low price MP3 download.

Ader's take is the fastest overall version in my survey at under 57'. To be sure the opening Angelico is a bit on the swift side, but nothing too outside the ordinary. While swift, Ader is adept at using sustains to create a lovely yet pensive sound. In terms of speed, the overall feeling of forward movement is similar to Colom or Cortes. It lacks the more dramatic playing of the former, but it is much more wide-ranging both dynamically and tonally than the latter. Ader uses her speed and rubato most effectively. Afflito e penoso demonstrates this. Ader plays some music with pressed speed combined with striking accents, then expertly slows way down and plays with not a little nuance in the piano to mezzo-piano range. It emotionally bifurcates the piece quite nicely. She manages something similar time and again, as in the Lento profund, which seems as pressed as Cortes, but through expert micromanagement of dynamics, becomes much more effective, as does the Allegretto in the second book. The Tranquillo starts off with brightly colored playing and then moves to a nervous and striking climax, with nicely rumbly bass. The Calme that ends the book sounds like a very modernist take on Debussy. Ader reserves the most personal and intense playing for the third book, which is sort of relentless, with the final Lento the least Messiaen like of the versions I listened to, in favor of something more abstractly emotional. The fourth book starts off more austere and aloof than much of what came before, and often returns to that style, but even in this book, Ader infuses some playing with a lot of immediacy, and in the penultimate piece some true pianissimo playing that one must almost strain to hear. Ader's disc also includes Mompou's supreme small scale masterpiece, Paisajes. Ader opts to maintain a style similar to what she uses in Musica Callada, and though I would have preferred something more "impressionistic", the pieces work well.

Among fast versions of Musica Callada, this is nearly on par with Josep Colom and Albert Attenelle and is much more my speed than the pianist's Mussorgsky. MP3 sound is fully acceptable, though presumably CD would offer just a smidge more clarity at the frequency extremes.

 

[Todd A]

Back to an optical disc. Alessandro Deljavan's 2016 recording is in fully up to date sound, making for a nice close to this survey. His overall timing is about on par with the composer's but individual movements vary quite a bit. The opening Angelico is of the tense but beautiful variety, and the Deljavan moves to a very quick first Lento that sounds even more tense. The very close microphones allow one to hear breaths and damper mechanism noise, but it also allows one to hear very finely controlled micro-dynamic shading throughout. This is extra nice in the Legato metallico, which is generally subdued, but when Deljavan plays forte it offers a dramatic yet still lovely, and not too metallic, contrast to the preceding music. In the seventh movement Lento, Deljavan fine sounding Steinway D generates a tone somewhat reminiscent of Small, just sleeker. The pianist's touch is such that no matter how loud he plays, there's always a slightly rounded sound to his playing, which is driven home in the second book Allegretto, and even more so in the Tranquillo-tres calme, which starts and ends delicately, but thunders in the middle. Deljavan's ability to use sustains and pauses, and much more the former, is subtle and refined. He does it all the time but it doesn't draw attention to itself. The third book sounds faster than it is played and sounds quite expressive and emotional, and the fourth book, rather than sounding more austere, seems more intimate and like a personal emotional quest. Sometimes it borders on the too beautiful, but the undercurrent of tension prevents it from reaching that point. Deljavan closes out with a final Lento of over five minutes, and even this maintains a sort of forward moving energy while sounding attractive.

One interesting aspect of the recording is that even though Deljavan is on the slow side of the spectrum overall, his recording often seems to zip along, relatively speaking, and it evokes a more modernist sound at times while sounding soft edged and easily accessible.

I will most likely pick up more versions of the work in the future, but for now I think my interest in the work is satisfied. The composer's version is sort of mandatory, but even then I'd rate Haskell Small, Josep Colom, and Albert Attenelle as my three favorite, distinctly different versions. This version by Deljavan is almost as good, and blends in with Javier Perianes, Adolf Pla, and Alice Ader qualitatively.

 

[Todd A]

While I've not purchased as many recordings of Mozart's piano sonatas as I have of Beethoven's sonatas, or Debussy's first book of Preludes, for that matter, I have ended up with a fairly wide assortment of recordings. Time to run through all of them, sort of. I quasi-randomly selected K282 as the sonata to sample and go through the physical copies I currently own.

I randomly selected Marc-Andre Hamelin as the first version to hear. I very much enjoy Hamelin's Haydn, finding it some of his best stuff, and his Mozart is likewise very good. A virtuoso with unlimited ability (and who sounds like it on record and in person, even when he has the "flu"), he never needs to worry about utilizing his entire skill set here. That does not stop him from the playing opening Adagio of gentle demeanor, nice dynamic control, tasteful rubato, and beauty. He plays the first Minuet of the second movement in a deliberate but light fashion, and the second in slightly more spritely fashion, though his rubato here is more pronounced and could be considered heavy-handed and out of spirit. The Allegro is all energy and fun, with some strong accents. Maybe it is pushed too much, but then, maybe not. It's not my favorite, but it is pristinely executed and in SOTA sound.

 

[Todd A]

Leon McCawley's K282, from the only Mozart recording I own where a reverb vendor is mentioned. McCawley's playing is so, so clean. He seems to dislike the sustain pedal quite a lot, and his touch is light. The left hand bass line in the Adagio is clear and dance-like. Indeed, it is possibly more dance like than entire second movement, which ends up more melody focused, especially in the second minuet. McCawley dispatches the Allegro in speedy, fun fashion, and here his left hand playing is again clean and noticeable, and his rubato well-judged. Very nice.

 

[Todd A]

Marta Deyanova's K282. In poor, distant, way too resonant sound in just about the worse Nimbus tradition, Deyanova makes matters worse by playing the Adagio a bit too slow. True, she does play with some nice dynamics, or what would be nice dynamics if the sound did not become blurred and hard at mezzo forte. Her ornamentation and rubato and overall rhythmic sense are all fine, it's just the sound hurts everything. Deyanova then sort of startles the ears by playing the first minuet very fast, to the point of rushing it, and she does the same with the second one. She likewise plays the Allegro very fast, pretty much to the point of sounding rushed, but it is not as much an issue here. Combine sub-par sound and not my taste playing, and this is an unfavorite.

 

[Todd A]

Going from one of the worst sounding K282s to one of the two or three best sounding in Ikuyo Nakamichi's recording. Nakamichi takes her time in the Adagio, which takes just under seven minutes, playing some music with uncommon gentleness, and embellishing some passages in an uncommon manner. Some might find it mannered. The playing is gorgeous and ethereal and not quite early Mozart light, though it cannot be described as particularly deep. Nakamichi plays both minuets with some rather pronounced pedaling and rubato, with a sort of heavy front-loading of some phrases and some passages where each note is given essentially equal weight. The Allegro is closer to standard in conception, with a pleasant and fun overall tempo, but Nakamichi again uses rubato and some accenting that some might find too willful. An interventionist reading, but this is my kind of interventionism.

 

[Todd A]

Going back in time a bit to Carl Seemann. The Adagio is lovely and very clean, with minimal pedal, but Seemann drops the repeats, bringing the movement in at a too short 3'14", which makes it sound incomplete when coming after other versions. The minuets are a bit serious and inflexible, but still appealing, while the Allegro is a bit peppier but still a bit inflexible and stern. Seemann's Mozart is generally very good overall, but the first movement is stripped of too much good music here.

 

[Todd A]

Now to a pianist almost no one mentions when writing about Mozart: Samson Francois, taken from a 1964 recital. Slightly quick, but fluid and lovely in the Adagio, the playing verges on the precious at times, and Francois can't help but use personal rubato. It sounds very much like a live, real performance, with the pianist giving in to whim. It works. Francois then offers a perfect example of how to play both minuets swiftly and still sound flowing and light. The Allegro is swift and light and playful and perhaps precious, but when it's this good, that ends up a strong point. Even the somewhat rushed and insecure coda doesn't detract. Good stuff.

 

[Todd A]

Friedrich Gulda. At eight minutes even, Gulda plays the opening Adagio at an incredibly slow speed, and he keeps his foot off the sustain pedal most of the time, allowing for great clarity. This would seem to almost guarantee a stiff opening movement, but no, Gulda keeps it moving along, lyrical, with fine dynamic gradations, and ornamentation and embellishment to rival Nakamichi's. The minuets sound a bit hard and inflexible, but they are serious and move forward with a sense of purpose not always evident in Mozart playing. The Allegro is quick and agile. This is not really a first choice, but Gulda is never to be underestimated in core Germanic rep.

The sound is of course a bit problematic with this entire set, but the very close, very dry sonics, even with hints of overload, work well enough.

 

[Todd A]

Gitti Pirner's K282 starts with a largely restrained Adagio, characterized by clean and serious playing and a moderately attractive style. No ornamentation calls undue attention to itself, and her rhythmic sense is solid. The minuets are straight-forward and the Allegro is nicely energetic with good dynamic variation between voices. Not a great recording, but a solid one, and the whole set might be good for listeners who want no-nonsense Mozart.

 

[Todd A]

Alfred Brendel's late career Mozart is some of the best stuff he did. If one can get past Brendel's vocalizing, one hears a more attractive than expected Adagio, but one that is also filled with little felicities, like a nicely accented chord here, and some nicely judged rubato in an ascending phrase there, all just because. Brendel plays the minuets with a sense of sort of studied spontaneity and humor and enough dynamic variation to make them work very well indeed. The Allegro is basically just a sunny good time here. Excellent.

 

[Todd A]

Martino Tirimo's K282. Tirimo opts to play a very slow Adagio and to ornament liberally. He keeps a steadier overall tempo than Nakamichi, however, and his playing is precise, clean, and the recorded sound flatters his playing. (It also picks up his breathing.) The minuets are lovely and more direct than the opening movement, while the Allegro is slightly restrained. One does get to hear the different voices clearly. Not bad.

 

[alanbeeb]

Will you be including Maria João Pires? Listening to her K.282 now and it's working for me.

 

[Todd A]

Will you be including Maria João Pires? Listening to her K.282 now and it's working for me.

Yes, I own physical copies of both of her studio recordings.

 

[Todd A]

Mitsuko Uchida plays the K282 Adagio slow and with the utmost tonal beauty. Her bass line is perfectly poised and her melodies are micromanaged to the point where one can use the word fussy. There is no way to argue with how easily it falls on the ear, though. Uchida plays the minuets fairly tautly and with greater dynamic contrast than the opener, and she plays the Allegro with more of the same micromanagemnt evident in the first movement. Nice, but mixed.

 

[Todd A]

Karl Engel's K282. He plays the Adagio in a somber, clean fashion, with little of the tonal gorgeousness evident in Uchida's set. He does use more pronounced accenting and rubato, especially in the bass line, and while not especially snappy, the rhythmic component is more on display here. The minuets are more heavily accented than normal, and a bit stiff sounding, though not bad. The Allegro is quick, clear, vibrant, and nearly a just the notes rendition. Not bad.

 

[Todd A]

Time for some not so hot Mozart. The blurred, resonant, mid-range dominant sound doesn't help matters, but Daniel-Ben Pienaar's swift overall tempo in the Adagio, shorn of some repeats, doesn't jell. That written, as with his Beethoven, he can't seem to go a bar without an intervention of some sort, and some of them are ear-catching (eg, some micro-acclerandos). The minuets have more than a little rubato and some exaggerated forte playing that is the kind of playing that might be described as calling attention to the pianist more than the music. In the Allegro, Pienaar plays some of the music in his fast-n-jittery style, with lots of rubato and exaggerated dynamics. It often sounds to be just too much for the music, though some is intriguing.

Pienaar's Mozart is not my speed, but it is idea-filled.

 

[Todd A]

Arrau's Adagio in K282 is crazy long at 10'22". It's just ridiculous. The movement should not be that long. Ever. Yet, somehow, Arrau pulls it off. Here's a pianist who makes Mozart a romantic. He uses his rich tone, extends out the bass line to the point of nearly or maybe even actually breaking the line, and it works. How does he make slow trills work so well? How does he make outsize dynamic contrasts work so well? He just does. The belabored slow playing carries right on over to the minuets, and at first it sounds kind of lumbering, but then it just kind of works, though not as well as the opener. The Allegro is a bit peppier, though still a bit slower than many competitors, but Arrau's rich tone and weighty playing keeps with the overall approach of the piece.

Arrau's whole cycle is something that I know shouldn't like because it's just so improper, but I can't help but like it - more so than his Beethoven.