Search - Muzio Clementi, Howard Shelley :: Clementi: The Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1

Mozart was jealous!

Dace Gisclard | Houston, TX | 08/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Why should we bother with Clementi when Mozart called him "a charlatan," "a mere mechanicus?"--Mozart's professional jealousy! Listen with an open mind, and Shelley's Clementi makes this obvious. Leopold Mozart assigned Clementi's works to his students! To W.A., however, Clementi was "competition"--especially as a pianist, and especially in Vienna, where Mozart had carved out a career, and where their notorious "contest" took place.



Howard Shelley's is one of three currently ongoing series of Clementi sonata recordings (I go into more detail about the others below; for the record, Carlo Grante's single-disc "Vol.I" for ALTARUS hasn't had any forthcoming companions for years, and costs an arm and a leg). Shelley's is my personal preference by a wide margin, and HYPERION promises to make his Clementi available in a projected series of six medium-priced "twofers." The others, on NAXOS and BRILLIANT, are played on fortepianos. For some, the "historical fidelity" of "original instruments" will be the clinching factor--not for me. Shelley plays a modern piano, and has tremendously better technique and a more energetic style than almost any other artist who has undertaken anything like a complete recording of the Clementi sonatas. (I have Maria Tipo and Pietro Spada in mind, despite the fact that they play modern instruments.)



Shelley's series should be of importance to anyone who owns complete recordings of the Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven piano sonatas. Clementi, their contemporary, is just as important in the evolution of the classical piano sonata as any of them, and was there first with the most, as far as the evolution of idiomatic piano writing per se is concerned. He is also an excellent composer, worthy of attention. Haydn and Beethoven (and many of their contemporaries) regarded his works highly, and one cannot listen to early Beethoven without hearing the influence of Clementi.



I'm not saying Clementi possessed the same versatility--his reputation rests almost entirely on his piano music. Nor is his level of inspiration as consistently high--but at his best (which is at least 75% of the time) he is tremendously exhilarating, entertaining, and deeply moving. It's OK to like BOTH Clementi and Mozart, but they are very different composers, each excellent in their own ways.



Shelley quite rightly plays the virtuoso movements for all they are worth, instead of apologetically trying to wring "profundity" out of Clementi's brilliant keyboard writing by playing it under tempo (which is the usual way such things are attempted--why can't joy and enthusiasm be "profound?"). These movements, far from being "empty virtuosity," are good music, and radiate an exultation in healthy athleticism akin to that of Beethoven's early sonatas and the "Waldstein".



Sometimes Clementi foreshadows Beethoven's minor-key drama (Op.7 No.3; Op.8 No.1). Some movements exhibit a beguiling proto-Chopinistic lyricism, i.e., Op.25 No.4. Some of the slow movements project a feeling of suffering and alienation, or a repressed foreboding, expressed in spare textures and bare fourths (Op.7 No.3). In such movements, the atmosphere is akin to the anxiety in the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich. Haydn sometimes approaches this, but if this feeling exists in Mozart, then it must be very rare, because I have never encountered it.



Start listening with the Opus 2 sonatas--that's where the "real" Clementi begins. There, certain elements of Clementi's style spring forth fully formed like Athena from the head of Zeus. Rapid chains of consecutive octaves, thirds, and sixths and quasi-orchestral writing, like nothing to be found in Haydn or Mozart's keyboard works, suddenly pop up. No.6 has chains of octaves with embedded thirds! This is the beginning of true pianoforte idiom, with a typically pianistic sensuality and sonority, and Clementi was there first with the most. (Beethoven's first piano sonatas were fifteen years in the future.) On the harpsichord, these passages of very full vertical structures would generate a lot of mechanism clatter and not much resonance--on the piano, they open a new world of sound. These innovations continue in Opera 7 and 8. However, none of this would matter if the music wasn't good--IT IS.



Mozart writes that Clementi "sweated all day over his passages in double thirds." Of course, the obvious retort is that if one is going to play double thirds, sixths and octaves, it takes practice--no surprise there, W.A.



A few statistics about Clementi's revisions: WARNING! GEEKY MUSICOLOGY AND COLLECTORS' TRIVIA COMING UP! IF YOU ARE ALLERGIC TO THIS KIND OF THING, SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH!: Shelley and Mastroprimiano play the final version of Opus 2. Spada plays an earlier version. The most immediately obvious difference between the two versions is that the final version omits the slow movement of No.2. Spada plays the movement--the other two pianists don't. Mastroprimiano also omits the slow movement of No.11. Shelley's forthcoming Vol.II will include it.



About the BRILLIANT series: Constantino Mastroprimiano is an excellent player, but is, in my opinion, undermined by the fortepianos he plays. I'm not opposed to the "authentic instrument" movement, but I've heard better-sounding fortepianos than this. Their twanging suggests a banjo or a broken-down barroom upright, and they are limited in tone color and repetition speed of their actions. I constantly feel that Clementi is asking more of these instruments than they have to give in terms of sonority and ease of execution. The rapid double notes and full chords sound like mere clatter, making no real contribution to the sonority. To an extent, I can understand Mozart's reaction to this music, if THIS is really what he heard, although judging from his contemporaries' reactions, he was in the minority. Carefully grading dynamics to simulate a singing legato line is almost out of the question, although Mastroprimiano labors valiantly in that direction, and does as well as anyone could on such instruments, I suppose. His series will undoubtedly be of interest to musicologists. If that's one's focus, then Mastroprimiano's series is well-played and well-researched, and can be highly recommended on those terms. However, in my opinion, Clementi's piano writing does not show off to full advantage on the instruments of his day.



But then, Clementi was NOT satisfied with the instruments of his day, and constantly sought to improve them. For me, the BRILLIANT series merely shows why he was dissatisfied. Hearing it was an interesting experience in instrumental antiquarianism. However, now that I have been there and done that, I, personally, am much more interested in hearing Clementi played with real virtuoso technique on instruments that allow the music to speak for itself to the fullest extent possible--Shelley offers such an opportunity. Mozart and Haydn accepted and worked within the limitations of the forte-pianos of their day (which isn't to say that Mozart didn't welcome technical advances when he experienced them). Clementi, although forced to work within the same limitations, did NOT accept them, and sought to improve the instrument's response, beauty of tone, and ability to play legato (he was also an instrument manufacturer). One could either say that Clementi wrote badly for the fortepiano, OR recognize him as a pianistic "visionary". I think it's the latter. Shelley proves triumphantly that the potential of this music develops fully (like a photographic negative), leaping to vivid life when played with true virtuosity on the modern instrument. Oh, and uh..., be careful not to bruise your chin--your jaw just might drop to the floor.



Other volumes in this series: Vol.II Clementi: The Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 2

Vol.IIIPiano Sonatas 3

Vol.IV Piano Sonatas 4

Vol.V Clementi: Piano Sonatas - Vol.5"