William Youn Plays Mozart Sonatas, Vol. 1

The Taschenphilharmonie, conducted by Peter Stangel, presents this outstanding recording of Mozart’s Symphonies No. 40 and No. 41 “Jupiter”. These two works were composed by Mozart during the summer of 1788. Symphony 41 was the last symphony that the great composer wrote. The “smallest Symphony Orchestra in the world,” the Taschenphilharmonie is made up of first-class musicians who came together a decade ago to make music.

Resurrection of Mozart

SERENADE IN B MAJOR GRAN PART

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)

Mozart: Cassations, K. 63, K. 99 and K. 100

Mozart created the medium of the Clarinet Quintet K581 by means of a process that involved a number of preliminary experimental fragments, all of which can also be heard on this disc. Like the Clarinet Concerto, the Quintet K581 was intended for Stadler's basset clarinet in A, which was furnished with an additional four semitones at the bottom of the compass. Colin Lawson's boxwood basset clarinet (modelled on Viennese instruments of the period) was especially created for him in 1988 by the Cambridge maker Daniel Bangham. For the Allegro in F K580b he plays the more brilliant clarinet in C and is joined by Michael Harris (basset horn). The Allegro K516c features the extremely rare Bb basset clarinet used elsewhere by Mozart only in the virtuoso obbligato to 'Parto, parto' from La Clemenza di Tito. Colin Lawson, described by BBC Music Magazine as 'the doyen of period clarinettists' explores Mozart's original sound world in partnership with his colleagues from The Revolutionary Drawing Room. Performance of Mozart's Clarinet Quintet on a specially recreated basset clarinet in A o Disc includes all associated Mozart fragments including the rarely heard 8-bar Andante Rondo o World première recording of Rondo K581a in the completion by Robert Levin o Sound world illustrates the beauty of period strings in association with Viennese-style clarinets in C, Bb and A o Sheds new light on Mozart's association with his clarinettist friend Anton Stadler, who died 200 years ago.

Classical Music

Mozart: Complete Pianoforte Works

Don Giovanni, a libertine, a rake with a devil-may-care attitude, is portrayed magnificently by Rhodes in this production, where he first appears on stage in a costume where less is definitely more! Charismatic and sexy, Rhodes' acting and singing are magnificent. His misused servant, Leporello, is played by Coad, who skillfully promotes the opera's comic elements whilst delivering a thumping bass full of drama. The classic stage designs of Oberle form the backdrop to the drama of Don Giovanni's last day on earth, before he is hurled in to Hell's flames by the Commendatore, Sumegi, whose basso profundo is befittingly momentous. A triumphant production from the director, Goran Jarvefelt.

QUINTETTE, QUATUORS

SYMPHONIES 40, 41

Mozart: Ave verum corpus, K. 618 & Requiem in D Minor, K. 62

V2: PIANO CONCERTOS

MOZART Piano Concertos: No. 8 in C, K 246 1; No. 14 in E?, K 449 2; No. 15 in B?, K 450 3 • Cyprien Katsaris, piano; Yoon Kuk Lee (cond); Salzburg CP • PIANO 21 P21 026-N (71:18) Live: Salzburg 1 12/6/96, 2 4/22/98, 3 1/15/98


I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: One-time whiz-kid Cyprien Katsaris has matured into one of the most wide-ranging pianists alive; and if you pass up his Mozart because you think that no one who plays Liszt, Tchaikovsky, and Boulez that well could possibly be at home in Mozart, you are making a serious mistake. The earlier releases in this complete run of the concertos—this is Volume 5, although Volume 6 has already been issued (see Fanfare 33:2)—showed him to be a first-class Mozartian. The same clarity, intelligence, and sensitivity are on display here—as is the same slightly old-fashioned approach that exploits, but does not indulge in, the timbral resources of a modern instrument.


The overall interpretive mood is slightly soft-spoken: There’s little of the caustic aftertaste we get from so many cutting-edge period-performance recordings, and in place of the blaze we might expect from his kinetic readings of super-virtuoso repertoire, we get a warm glow. But while it’s gentle, the playing isn’t weak or undercharacterized: Intimate rather than reticent, nuanced rather than shy, it’s Mozart playing of tremendous tact, discernment, and impetus. Thus, for instance, even though it never turns aggressive, the finale of the 14th Concerto has tremendous buoyancy; while it avoids the hard sell, the 15th opens with infectious momentum nonetheless. Throughout it all, Katsaris’s touch is breathtaking (listen to the utter grace of the small cadenza in the finale of No. 8). As on the earlier discs, too, I’m struck by the appreciation of the music’s conversational moments—from its banter to its more serious dialogues—both those between the piano and the orchestra and those within the solo part itself. It’s a quality that can give tremendous interest even to passages that, in other hands, risk sounding either mundane (try his treatment of the back-and-forth in the piano beginning at measure 163 in the finale of the Eighth) or slightly stuffy (listen to the delight in the fugal moments in the finale of No. 14).


Are these romantic readings? In a sense, yes; but to the extent that they are, they look ahead not to the heroics of Beethoven but to the kind of bel canto you hear in early Chopin. Nothing in these performances is ever slushy or sentimental, even in the slow movements—but the lyrical impulse takes priority over rhythmic drive. In all three performances, Yoon Kuk Lee and his orchestra offer finely gauged support laced with loving details that never distract (listen, for instance, to the delightful wind playing beginning at measure 62 in the finale of No. 8); the engineering, as on the rest of the series, is first-rate. As on earlier issues in the series, alternate cadenzas are offered (although truth to tell, none of them are particularly gripping, especially when played out of context). Warmly recommended.


FANFARE: Peter J. Rabinowitz