(++++) POISE AND PERCEPTION

Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas, Volume 4—Nos.1, 2 and 6. Orli Shaham, piano. Canary Classics. $19.98.

Mozart: Piano Sonatas Nos. 9 and 12; Gigue in G, K. 574; 12 Contredanses for Count Czernin—Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 12; Allegro in G minor, K. 312; Adagio in B minor, K. 540; Variations on “Unser dummer Pöbel meint”; Ave verum corpus, K. 618 (arr. Liszt). Su Yeon Kim, piano. Steinway & Sons. $17.99.

     With the latest volume of her foray into Mozart’s complete piano sonatas for Canary Classics, Orli Shaham has now recorded 13 of the 18 and has established a clear pattern and approach to all of the works. Shaham uses a modern piano, tends to favor extensive but usually not overdone use of the sustaining pedal, takes the sonatas’ indicated repeats, uses those repeated sections for additional ornamentation – and, all in all, comes across as if she genuinely enjoys playing the music. This in turn transmits the enjoyment to listeners, to very good effect. The arrangement oddities of Shaham’s presentation continue in the fourth volume as well: the three sonatas here are Nos. 2, 1 and 6, offered in that order for no discernible reason. The works are, respectively, in the keys of F, C and D. The most notable element within these three sonatas is the finale of No. 6, a theme-and-variations movement that, at 17-plus minutes, is the longest single movement in any Mozart sonata. Shaham approaches this movement with the same mixture of care and delicacy that she brings to other Mozart sonata movements in variation form. She relishes the ornamentation that Mozart inevitably includes as an element of his variation approach, and does a good job of presenting the variations as an unfolding sequence rather than as individual, standalone little pieces. Thus, the movement has a sense of forward momentum as well as one of exploring all the ins and outs of the initial theme. Actually, this sonata’s Rondeau en Polonaise second movement is as much a highlight in Shaham’s interpretation as is the finale: she pays attention to the walking pace (Andante) but produces just the right mixture of introversion and outward expressiveness to make the movement effective throughout. In Sonata No. 1, Shaham also achieves a pleasant balance of lighter and darker (but not much darker) elements, although here she does tend to overuse the pedal a bit too often in chordal material. The twinkling finale is the most-engaging movement in her reading. In Sonata No. 2, there is a somewhat studied feeling to the opening Allegro assai, which could use a slightly more freewheeling sound. And the second-movement Adagio leans a touch too heavily into emotionalism – this is music of slight pathos, certainly not tragedy. The concluding Presto, however, sweeps away any misgivings into a lithe brightness that is quite winning. Shaham puts her personal stamp on all these sonatas, as she has put it on those in the three previous volumes of her cycle. These are knowing and carefully considered interpretations that lean a bit more into the Romantic era than the music readily supports – but that are heartfelt and sincerely communicative throughout.

     It will be very, very interesting if Su Yeon Kim, who is still in her twenties and thus of an age similar to Mozart’s when he wrote much of his piano music, produces a Mozart sonata cycle of her own. Kim’s recording for Steinway & Sons of two of the sonatas – Nos. 9 and 12 – is so light, well-balanced and insightful that it bodes very well indeed for a possible set of all 18 sonatas. Whether or not that is in the future, having these two available now is wonderful. Kim brings exuberance and a generally light touch to both these works – using a modern piano, yes, but holding back on the large and reverberant sound of which the instrument is capable. As a result, the sonatas attain a level of understated beauty that mingles well with their perfection of form, of which Kim is clearly quite cognizant. Kim neatly brings forth the distinguishing elements of Sonatas Nos. 9 and 12, such as the syncopation in the Andante con espressione of No. 9 and the ornamentation in the Adagio of No. 12. But she never overdoes individual elements of these works: her focus in on them as totalities of self-contained expressiveness, and she manages Mozart’s balance of elegance and intensity to excellent effect. Scattered somewhat helter-skelter on the CD as supplements to the sonatas are works that are apparently present simply because Kim finds them charming. Listeners will agree: the little Gigue in G and the four selections from the dozen written for Count Czernin are completely winning in their melding of pleasant simplicity with formal perfection – again, it would be a pleasure to hear Kim play all 12 of the Czernin works. Also here, and making for a first-rate contrast of mood, are the Allegro in G minor, K. 312, from an unfinished sonata, and the Adagio in B minor, K. 540. Kim plumbs the expressiveness of both these pieces, especially the latter, without making either of them seem grander or more deeply emotional than they in fact are. Also here are the delightful variations on Gluck’s Unser dummer Pöbel meint, which Kim presents in lighthearted fashion with an emphasis – but not an over-emphasis – on their virtuosic elements. The disc concludes with Liszt’s piano arrangement of the simple but emotive Ave verum corpus, K. 618, which ends the CD in a mood of contemplative thoughtfulness that contrasts well with the many more-lighthearted moments on a very-well-played, very-well-recorded disc that will surely whet listeners’ appetite for more of Kim’s interpretations of Mozart.