Mozart from Khatia Buniatishvili and the ASMF

As rumours of Khatia Buniatishvili's retirement circulate (while she is due to perform in London with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields), Sony has released this recording of Mozart Concertos, Nos. 20 & 23 (plus the C-Major Sonata, K 545). I doubt the veracity of the rumours (the relevant page is riddled with ads), but anyway in the meantime, her new disc is birthed.

I have not always enjoyed Buniatishvili's playing, it is fair to say. But there is a fire to the first movement of the D-Minor that is most compelling (and obviously playing with an orchestra keeps her rhythm in check). Only when she is left to he own devices in the cadenza, I thought, will she go off-piste. But it is Beethoven's mighty cadenza, and his fire thrusts the music forward:

The Romance is taken at just the right tempo, and with pianistic transparency (the orchestra seems just.touch too heavy in its response to Buniatishvili's opening statement!). The single right-hand line sings like an aria. Thee are debits here though: the inter-register conversation on the keyboard is on the anonymous side (the voices could speak to each other more) and the central outburst veers towards the Beethovenian. In fairness, this might be an attempt to link to the first movement cadenza, but the effect is perhaps a little over-upholstered:

The finale works well in the exchanges between woodwind and piano, and Buniatishvili's passagework is often a delight. Just occasionally when the orchestra is silent the tendency towards ever-loving a phrase or gesture creeps in but the cadenza is a fascinating examination of the movement's material (again, Beethoven). Until its end that is, when added bass octaves and a frenetic moment prior to the orchestra's re-entry rather spoil the moment. This might work live but is less successful on disc:

There is a crispness to Buniatishvili's articulation in K 488 that fits the music well; but most noticeable is the core of sadness she finds behind the bight A-Major musical surface. Mozart's own cadenzas this time,

The central movement, in F sharp-Minor, is indeed one of Mozart's most individual and interior statements. It is also marked Adagio, and Buniatishvili gives us very much a modern reading of that term. In he artist booklet note (there is a more extended one by Wolfgang Stähr also)m Buniatisvili says, “As for F sharp-minor ... here words will have to cede to silence”. The movement is also a most for woodwind to shin, and indeed the ASMF players rise to the challenge beautifully:

The finale has a lightness that speaks of opera buffa, and yet here it threatens to turn into Sturm und Drang at any moment:

There are technical moments from Buniatishvili any pianist would happily remortgage their house for in this finale. If a little more play and contrast could be present towards the cloys, it remains a memorable interpretation. The recording of both concertos, incidentally, is top notch (Air Sudios, London, Jonathan Allen Producer; Engineer curiously unnamed in teh documentation)

Finally (and not even announced on the front cover) is the Piano Sonata in C-Major, K 545 (sometimes called the “Sonata facile”). It is an interesting choice: the two concertos were chosen for their presentation of different aspects of minor-mode territory (the first cast in D0Minor, the second with that potent F sharp-Minor slow movement). This is bright C-Major, and it is when it is at its brightest Buniatishvili shines. The darkening of the first movement development seems just a touch indulgent, though:

At 7"33, the slow movement is much more of an Adagio than an Andante and has moments of profundity; the finale (a mere 1"33) though is taken at a proper Allegretto and is the gem of Buniatishvili's account of K 545:

It might be an idea to compare Boniatishvili with another major Sony artist here, Mao Fujita (via his complete sonatas box). Fujita's traversal of the cycle at Verbier made him many friends and has entered teh stuff of legend. In some ways his approach might be heard as moe traditional and less individualistic. Another way of saying that is that for Fujita, it is all about Mozart. He plays with crystalline clarity (and offers som rather nice decorations on the first movement repeat, incidentally). It is all fresh as a daisy, stylish and perfect. There are moments of inter-hand dialogue that put me in mind Buniatishvili's dialogues with the ASMF winds mentioned above. You can hear Fujita's Verbier first movement here, and below is the Sony. His voice-leading is exquisite, and he never needs to point-make, ever. :

Fujita's slow movement lasts 4"54 (as opposed to Buniatishvili's 7"37) and yet is more profound; and his finale is just as playful:

When it comes to the Sonata, there's no competition, Fujita is by far the best choice. But Buniatishvili's Mozart concertos are certainly worth hearing.

The disc is available at Amazon here. Mao Fujita's box of Mozart Sonatas is available here.