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Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op 10, No 1, 2 & 3 / Mari Kodama
PENTATONE

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op 10, No 1, 2 & 3 / Mari Kodama

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Details

Composer
BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN
Artist
Mari Kodama
Format
SACD
Label
PENTATONE
Released
Mar 29, 2011
Catalog #
PTC5186377
UPC
827949037764

About



BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas , op. 10/1–3 • Mari Kodama (pn) • PENTATONE 5186 377 (SACD: 59:20)


This is the latest installment of a cycle-in-progress (though new to me) by Mari Kodama, a Japanese student of Nikolayeva and Brendel. Her playing is impressive in its refinement and control, if occasionally a little predictable. The three op. 10s make for a satisfying program, though they’re curiously presented in reverse order here (Beethoven’s own is more logical, with the biggest, most ambitious work placed last).


No. 1 in C Minor goes well, with few surprises. Kodama generally lets the outer movements speak for themselves—straight, incisive, dramatic, forceful, with effective lyrical contrasts. Tension is well maintained, with a convincing sense of real performance (vs. a recording-studio run-through). The Adagio is straightforward, perhaps to a fault—here I miss the imaginative flexibility and expressive depths others bring to the music (e.g., Schiff/ECM, Lewis/Harmonia Mundi, or the recently reviewed Ohlsson/Bridge and Ehlen/Azica). The recorded sound of her Steinway is rich, resonant, and close, but a little “plummy” for my taste, with a pronounced resonant overhang. Her playing is certainly not over-pedaled, but a real staccato articulation is in short supply.


This is a bigger drawback in the first movement of No. 2 in F where, for all the poise and polish, Beethoven’s numerous injunctions to very short articulations (e.g., at the beginning, bars 38 ff., and 47 ff.) are rarely effectively realized. The development has a slightly stolid feel (the second repeat is observed). The F-Minor Allegretto is taken slowly, to rather dour effect, with (for my taste) an insufficient variety of texture and attack; the Presto finale is kept well under control at a moderate tempo. In the last resort, I find this all a little too uneventful.


The big D Major receives the most consistently satisfying performance of the three. The opening Presto is richly varied, supple and sinuous, with an exciting surging momentum. The Largo e mesto is all dark, glinting marble, and in this instance the finale finds her relishing the music’s wide-ranging phrase and textural discontinuities.


So, a slightly mixed bag. But there’s much playing of real distinction here, and anyone wanting a high-quality version of the three op. 10s in state-of-the-art sound won’t go wrong. For the general collector, perhaps not a first choice (see alternatives mentioned above), but I’ll be keeping this in my collection, and can see returning to the first and third sonatas.


FANFARE: Boyd Pomeroy


This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

Tracklist 10 tracks

  1. 1 I. Presto 07:15
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Presto
    Duration
    07:15
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Mari Kodama
  2. 2 II. Largo e mesto 09:19
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Largo e mesto
    Duration
    09:19
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Mari Kodama
  3. 3 III. Menuetto: Allegro 02:42
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Menuetto: Allegro
    Duration
    02:42
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Mari Kodama
  4. 4 IV. Rondo: Allegro 04:14
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Rondo: Allegro
    Duration
    04:14
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Mari Kodama
  5. 5 I. Allegro 08:49
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    08:49
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Mari Kodama
  6. 6 II. Allegretto 04:43
    Track
    6
    Title
    II. Allegretto
    Duration
    04:43
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Mari Kodama
  7. 7 III. Presto 04:01
    Track
    7
    Title
    III. Presto
    Duration
    04:01
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Mari Kodama
  8. 8 I. Allegro molto e con brio 05:34
    Track
    8
    Title
    I. Allegro molto e con brio
    Duration
    05:34
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Mari Kodama
  9. 9 II. Adagio molto 07:55
    Track
    9
    Title
    II. Adagio molto
    Duration
    07:55
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Mari Kodama
  10. 10 III. Finale: Prestissimo 04:29
    Track
    10
    Title
    III. Finale: Prestissimo
    Duration
    04:29
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Mari Kodama