W.A. Mozart Piano Sonatas Nos. 4, 5, 9 & 13;
Rondo in A minor; Country Dances
(arr. Landowska)
Wand Landowska, piano
RCA
Wanda Landowska’s reputation as a harpsichordist obscures her
considerable achievements as a pianist, especially in regard to these
extraordinary Mozart recordings, made at her Lakeville, Connecticut home in
1956. The sound is on the dry side, and Landowska’s reposeful, intimately
scaled readings rarely exceed mezzo-forte. Yet her seemingly infinite
gradations of shading and touch, her immaculate control and timing, plus her
well-considered and expressive embellishments (try the K. 333 sonata first
movement’s exposition for a few elaborate surprises) add up to a masterclass in
style from which many of today’s history-minded interpreters can learn and
benefit.
A singing impulse consistently governs Landowska’s liquid trills, proportioned
rubatos and finely tuned balance between hands, ensuring no dead spots. She
arpeggiates chords with the utmost specificity, abetted by a masterful and
sophisticated finger legato technique. As a result, she employs the sustain
pedal sparingly and tellingly. Although these performances were reissued on CD
only by RCA Japan, they now gain a welcome lease on life courtesy of
Arkivmusic.com’s “on demand” reprint program. Notes are in Japanese only.
- Jed Distler
