Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Complete Piano Sonatas Vol. 3
Piano Sonata No. 10 in C major, K330 [18:04]
Piano Sonata No. 2 in F major, K280 [12:46]
Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K310 [18:23]
Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major, K545 [8:24]
Jean Muller (piano)
rec. August 2016 & January 2017, Grand Auditorium, Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg
HÄNSSLER CLASSIC HC20065 [57:43]
Jean Muller continues his admirable cycle of the complete Mozart piano sonatas for Hänssler Classic with volume three. (See the reviews of volume 1 and volume 2.) He was born in Luxembourg in 1979. At merely six he started piano training at the Luxembourg Conservatoire in the class of Marie-José Hengesch, and made his performing debut at seven. He then completed periods of study in Riga, Brussels, Paris and Munich, and has excelled in the world of international piano competitions, winning over a dozen first prizes.
In 2010, he released live recordings of Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas, a nine-CD box on Bella Musica (re-issued on Membran), and returned to the Luxembourg Conservatoire as piano professor. In 2016-2018, he served as artistic director of Orchestre de Chambre du Luxembourg. He became a Steinway artist in 2016.
Enduringly popular, Mozart’s sonatas and fantasias are key in the solo piano repertoire. Here, Muller has selected four sonatas which span almost all of Mozart’s fifteen-year period of writing sonatas. The earliest was completed in 1774 and the latest in 1789 (of course, most dates are approximate). This period falls inside an important time in the history of keyboard development. The fortepiano – with its expressive potential – was emerging, and it would ultimately supersede the harpsichord. During this rather lengthy transition, the harpsichord coexisted with the clavichord and fortepiano. Mozart certainly would have continued playing harpsichords all his life, as many venues would not have updated to a fortepiano. There are several accounts of Mozart up to 1791 playing harpsichords by makers such as Burkat Shudi and Johann Heinrich Gräbner Snr. (It was as late as 1809 when Kirkman of London built its last harpsichord.)
Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in F major, K280 is part of his earliest surviving set of sonatas for solo keyboard. It seems to stem from the period 1774/1775 when Mozart was in Munich for the staging of his opera La finta giardiniera K196. It is a charming score. It is worth noting the energetic, rather restless character that Muller gives to the opening movement Allegro assai. The closing Presto, vigorously taken, expresses a suitably witty and enthusiastic temperament.
I find it interesting that Mozart mentions in a 1777 letter to his father that he played a fortepiano made by Johann Andreas Stein, Augsburg. Next year in Paris Mozart wrote his Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K310, part of a set of three published by Franz Joseph Heina of Paris circa 1782. Composed around the time of the death of Mozart’s mother Anna Maria, this minor-key work is recognised as one of his saddest and reflective piano sonatas. Muller’s devotion to Mozart’s writing is never in doubt. Marked Andante cantabile con espressione, the heart of the score is mournful, not angry, but containing glimpses of happier times.
Written around 1781-1783, the Piano Sonata No. 10 in C major, K330 is the first of a set three sonatas published by Artaria of Vienna in 1783. It is undoubtedly one of Mozart’s most widely admired sonatas. Muller regards the work as an ‘amiable’ score. The opening Allegro moderato has a pleasing directness, squally but good-humored. The Andante cantabile is marked by a vein of light melancholy pervading the writing.
Mozart’s personal thematic catalogue lists the Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major, K545 as entered in 1788, the same year as Symphony No. 39. He describes the sonata as ‘a little keyboard sonata for beginners’. That is why it is sometimes described as the Sonata facile or Sonata semplice. Muller explains that the C major Sonata is not as easy to play as its title suggests, and he responds with entirely assured playing in a well-rounded and satisfying performance. In the gloriously melodic opening movement, Muller’s impeccable playing easily evokes an ebullient romp. One also enjoys the Andante, which communicates a tender heartening quality, never energy sapping.
Muller’s performances are very fine. It is easy to sense being in the hands of a performer who is impeccably schooled in these works, and who presents them with precision and utmost sincerity. These endearing, compelling interpretations sound delightful enhanced by the lovely tone of Muller’s Steinway Model D concert grand. Mozart’s music can handle different performance styles. Muller’s stylistic confidence in giving fresh and vital performances, without superfluous decoration, works well here.
A refined, classical style of Muller’s performances may be a touch too studied and relatively underpowered for those who desire a more Romantic approach, with expansive dynamics and generous levels of expression. There are several complete cycles in the record catalogue, each top-drawer, all well established and justifiably acclaimed. My first choice is the exemplary Mitsuko Uchida with her now classic set recorded in 1983-1987 at the Henry Wood Hall, London on Philips (review). The sets by Maria Joâo Pires, Daniel Barenboim and András Schiff are also praiseworthy for their unquestionable artistry.
These four sonatas have been recorded with a cool, vivid clarity by audio engineer Marco Battistella at the Grand Auditorium of the Luxembourg Conservatoire. The playing time of just under fifty-six minutes is a little short. As with previous volumes, Muller has written the booklet essay with background on each of the works. It is a worthwhile read.
Michael Cookson
