The well known piano
duo Tal and Groethuysen will be familiar
to many of you in their various surveys
of Schubert, Brahms, Czerny and others
on the Sony label. This is volume 1
of what would appear to be a highly
attractive three disc set. As a first
impression things look promising for
this new venture.
I had plans to do some
in-depth comparisons with that old mainstay
of the DG catalogue, the 1970s recordings
of this repertoire by Christoph Eschenbach
and Justus Frantz. Unfortunately, my
memories of them playing in the Royal
Festival Hall have lasted better than
my ‘Mozart’s Masterpieces’ edition copy
of these recordings, which would appear
to have eaten itself from the inside
out since I last played it. So much
for the myth of ever-lasting CDs: the
loss of yet another disc turning me
into a grumpy old man for the evening.
I can at least report that the new Sony
recording benefits over the older analogue
one from the advantages of greater clarity
and transparency, as one would expect.
I was grateful for the invention of
CD for taking away the snap, crackle
and pop of LP piano records, so the
preservation of my sanity prevented
me from taking the comparison any further.
Being a keen environmentalist I shall
donate the wretched thing to a clown
I know, whose best joke is to take out
a pair of CDs from his capacious pockets,
waving them in front of your face and
then replacing them, saying ‘See these?
Now you don’t!’ He is a nice chap, but
doesn’t get much work.
Anyone quoting the
previous sentences out of context would
not only be very silly, but would also
be doing this new recording a great
disservice. The opening Sonata K358
sets the character for the rest of the
disc, with immaculately clean and technically
brilliant playing and everything in
the right place – no peculiar mannerisms
or willful ‘interpretation’ getting
in the way of the music. It is superb
stuff, but there is a sense of safe
restraint as well, which had me wondering
if a little more fire, even some risk-taking
wouldn’t have made the whole thing just
a little more interesting. Perhaps I
have become a little too attached to
‘live’ as opposed to studio recordings,
but I seem to remember having similar
slight reservations about the Schubert
set as well.
No, you don’t always
want wild and frightening Mozart, and
he is usually fairly well-behaved in
this Sonata, having written it for performance
with his sister in mind. The Sonata
K497 is a different kettle of fish however.
Its origins are unknown, but its supplementary
title as a ‘Grande Sonate’ is entirely
appropriate, with symphonic proportions
and dimensions. This really is Mozart
at his best, with expectancy and gruff
drama, moving lyricism and flights of
elegant and genteel wit keeping one
on the edge of one’s seat through each
of the three movements.
K401 is a fugue fragment
which was completed and transcribed
by Maximilian Stradler to be published
in 1800. It seems to be little more
than a study or exercise – the brilliant
composer ‘keeping his hand in’ and seeing
what would come out. He never finished
the thing, so I think we can safely
say he didn’t see much mileage in it,
but it provides a fascinating insight
into the loose leaves of the composer’s
mind at work. Another, better known
arrangement is the Fantasie K608, one
of three pieces written by Mozart for
a mechanical ‘flute clock’. I feel that
Tal and Groethuysen could have given
just a little more weight to the ‘Marche
funèbre’ nature of the opening,
which does seem a bit perfunctory, although
I generally admire their unsentimental,
if possibly over-swift approach.
The booklet accompanying
this recording provides a wealth of
useful background information and analysis.
With that very slight nagging doubt
about the squeaky-cleanliness of these
performances I have a feeling this is
an issue which will grow on you rather
than blowing your socks off at first
hearing. My respect for this duo’s playing
does grow each time I hear them however,
so with that said I think this CD much
deserves its place in the top rank of
recordings in this repertoire. I shall
be fascinated to hear what they do with
the K448 D major Sonata…
Dominy Clements
Yara Tal and Andreas Groethuysen (piano) 
