Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Sonata in C, K. 296
Duo in G, K. 423
Fantasie in D minor, K. 397
Trio in E-flat, K. 498
Sigiswald Kuijken (violin), Sara Kuijken (viola), Marie Kuijken (fortepiano)
rec. 2021, H. Hart Zorggroep, Kortrijk, Belgium
Booklet with commentary in English, French, and German included
CHALLENGE RECORDS CC72902 [66]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s extraordinary solo and chamber music is often overlooked (or submerged in giant boxed sets) in favour of his large-scale works (e.g., the operas and symphonies). Sigiswald Kuijken and his daughters Sara and Marie have recorded four of Mozart’s intimate compositions on instruments (or copies thereof) that the composer would have recognised. The resulting disc, entitled Mozart en famille, compels repeated listening not only because of the compositions themselves but also on account of the Kuijken Trio’s colourful, loving performances.
The sonata in C major for fortepiano and violin K. 296, dated 11 March 1778, is a product of Mozart’s five-month sojourn in Mannheim. The work’s overall brightness (there is a little shadow in the development section of the opening movement) and lack of self-consciously virtuosic writing may deceive listeners into deeming this music uncomplicated. In fact, only a few other composers have achieved the seemless flow of memorable musical ideas in evidence here. This music satisfies with long acquaintance because technique is used to support substance. Of particular note is the Andante sostenuto second movement, which sounds almost like an aria without a sung text.
Written during a visit to his birthplace of Salzburg in 1783 to help his indisposed friend Michael Haydn fulfil a commission, the Duo in G
major for violin and viola K. 423 is one of two works that Mozart composed in this genre. This combination of solo instruments occurs infrequently in Mozart’s output: the most famous example is the Sinfonia concertante in E-flat
major K. 364. The violin and viola complement and support each other without losing their respective identities. Each instrument in this relationship has ideas to express, which are acknowledged by the other and explored in unison without any sense that one is trying to suppress or outperform the other.
One work that adumbrates similar incarnations in 19th-century piano literature is the ‘Fantasie’ in D minor for fortepiano K. 397, which can be dated approximately to the year 1782. Subsequent composers (e.g., Ludwig van Beethoven and Robert Schumann) used the ‘fantasia’ for exploration of musical ideas outside the confines of a formal framework. This one-movement piece reveals one way in which Mozart influenced the development of music.
This disc concludes with the Trio in E-flat major K. 498, dated 5 August 1786, which carries a sobriquet
‘Kegelstatt’ that has no obvious connection to its content, but supposedly to the location of its creation. Mozart conceived the trio for clarinet, viola, and piano, but he replaced his favourite wind instrument with a violin, which was far more widely played, for publication by Artaria in 1788. The Kuijkens have chosen the less frequently recorded published version and, thus, provided an opportunity to hear how Mozart rearranged his own music.
Sigiswald Kuijken’s note explains the origin and choice of the fortepiano played on this recording: a copy of an instrument ‘built around 1785 by Johann Andreas Stein in Augsburg’. Mozart knew and admired Stein’s instruments, a circumstance that lends a sense of rightness to its use in this context. One advantage to hearing Mozart on instruments similar to those for which he wrote is that they convey the timbre for each note in ways that later technologies can reproduce only in terms of pitch. Listening to this disc reminded me of how 18th-century instruments from different builders had distinctive sounds because they were less standardised than those produced today.
Members of the trio, collectively and individually, play with commitment, as if the music had been rediscovered. Familiar works that exist in many recorded versions, therefore, regain the interest of initial encounters wih them. The ‘Kegelstatt’
Trio, for example, has a degree of poignancy that conventional performances on modern instruments tend to undermine. The Kuijken Trio have restored not only the instrumental sound of the late 18th century, but also dispelled notions that compositions from this era lack individual character and express less emotion than later music that we now identify as ‘Romantic’. The Kuijkens enable listeners to appreciate the wit, humour, profundity, and sadness that Mozart and his contemporaries combined not only within the same works but even in single movements thereof.
Challenge Records’s presentation of this disc in a plastic jewel case with an attractive slipcase and a 32-page trilingual booklet provides an example that other labels should follow. Physical releases of Classical music must offer value beyond the musical content, which can be streamed or downloaded, to remain viable. Consumers buy LPs and CDs to have durable, aesthetically-appealing copies of music that we value (i.e., a slightly higher price is not a deterrent to collectors who desire quality).
Daniel Floyd
