Notes and Editorial Reviews
MOZART
Sonatas for Piano Four-Hands: in D,
K 448;
in F,
K 497;
in C
,
K 521
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Marie and Veronica Kuijken (fp)
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CHALLENGE CC72363 (76:48)
These sisters are the daughters of the world-renowned early music specialist conductor Sigiswald Kuijken. They seem to be multitalented; the notes tell us that sometimes Veronica accompanies Marie
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in song recitals, and other times, Marie accompanies Veronica as she plays violin. Here they both play on copies of a 1788 Johann Andreas Stein pianoforte. They of course grew up with such instruments, exotic to the rest of us. They make an argument for playing Mozart on a pianoforte: “The instrument dictates, so to speak, what can and cannot be done. As its touch is much lighter than that of a modern piano, it is also much easier to gracefully play the virtuosic fast passages.” Those who expect a mild-mannered, early-music approach will be surprised by the forthright vigor of the Kuijkens’ playing of these sometimes complex works. The music can call for such intensity, as in the intrusive chords that punctuate the theme statement of the first movement of K 497. These relatively late works of Mozart are complex: It seems he tries everything two pianists could do. They might be playing contrapuntally, in near unison, or one will be playing chords while the second plays virtuoso scalar passages. Sometimes they are engaged in conversation, elsewhere in parallel play. The Kuijken sisters manage to do it all, and their instrument renders crisply what might be muddied on a more modern instrument. I admire the energy and swift abandon of these performances. Others, such as Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia in K 448, have rendered the slow movements more touchingly, but these performances are uniquely attractive.
FANFARE: Michael Ullman
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Works on This Recording
Sound Samples
Sonata for Two Pianos in D major KV 448 (375a): Allegro con spirito
Sonata for Two Pianos in D major KV 448 (375a): Andante
Sonata for Two Pianos in D major KV 448 (375a): Molto allegro
Sonata for Piano Two Hands in F major KV 497: Adagio - Allegro di molto
Sonata for Piano Two Hands in F major KV 497: Andante
Sonata for Piano Two Hands in F major KV 497: Allegro
Sonata for Piano Two Hands in C major KV 521: Allegro
Sonata for Piano Two Hands in C major KV 521: Andante
Sonata for Piano Two Hands in C major KV 521: Allegretto
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