It is the fate of Mozart's piano and violin sonatas to provide fodder for enthusiastic (and often not so enthusiastic) youngsters, and for many, myself included, first acquaintance comes in less than ideal circumstances. In a sense the joy and surprise of re-discovery may be all the sharper for that. I had forgotten what a marvellous piece the little C major, K303, is, for instance—its unorthodox juxtaposition of adagio and molto allegro, followed by the most touchingly simple minuet. Among the later sonatas there is the amazing A major, K526, whose recherche slow movement is a worthy contemporary of the two great string quintets. Whatever one's reservations about the performances, and mine are many, they cannot wholly obscure the the greatness of the music.
Recorded balance is unusually critical in these works, the need to tame the power of the modern piano weighed against the fact that, however much the violin may come to the fore in the later sonatas, these remain works for piano with violin. One half of the equation is right on the new set—the piano sounds light and responsive, never cluttering the bass register, always allowing Klien's deft passagework and trills to sparkle. But balance and recording level vary according to when the recordings were made. Those dating from 1982 and 1983 are nicely balanced, allowing the flow of ideas to pass effectively between the instruments. Those made in 1981, unfortunately the majority, have the violin slightly more prominent; the problem is never so severe as on the older 1960s Grumiaux recordings (six sonatas with the marvellous Clara Haskil reissued on Philips 6768 366, 11/83), but all too often insignificant figures in the violin get in the way of melodies in the piano part. Since Grumiaux tends to milk accompaniments for their expressive value, since Klien is a rather eventempered pianist and since his instrument is rather bland and pale in tone-quality anyway, it is difficult for the ear to adjust and rectify matters.
Some may take more readily than I do to the occasional 'greasy' portamento and simpering accents Grumiaux indulges in. To my mind they vitiate the nobility of some of the slow movements (such as the B flat Sonata, K454) and make others too obviously lachrymose (the G minor slow movement in K380). Alarm bells ring also in some of the finales, as in the rat-a-tat articulation in K526 or the obliteration of dynamic contrasts in K454, and in contrast with Szeryng, (on the Philips Mozart Edition—6747 381, 3/78), Grumiaux's rather unvaried vibrato gives diminishing returns.
there are happier illustrations of the quality of this set, however. The finale of the F major, K376, is delightfully playful and the brooding E minor Sonata, K304, suits the Romantic approach rather well. Perhaps a touchstone for Grumiaux's qualities is the great slow movement of K454, where he is sensitive to the extraordinary harmonic design and yet over-reliant on the same tricks of tone-colour to project it.
The only other 'complete' set available is from Szeryng and Ingrid Haebler as part of a massive 14-record box in Philips's Mozart Edition (where the performances I have sampled seem marginally preferable). On the other hand, I see no reason to prefer the Shumsky/Balsam cycle currently in progress on ASV. Some very distinguished Mozart playing has disappeared from the catalogue, however. I am thinking especially of Radu Lupu (with the rather frail Szymon Goldberg on a complete Decca set—13BB 207/12, 11/75—nla) and, among violinists, Oleg Kagaan (a selection only, with Richter on HMV SLS5020, 9/5—nla). On original instruments I believe Kuijken and Leonhardt to have been underrated (RCA RL30335, 7/81—nla), far more musical playing than that of Jaap Schroder and Jos van Immerseel (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, 1C 165 99972/3, 4/84). So for all its mixed blessings the present set fills a gap in the catalogue and as such is welcome.'