Composer: Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Performer: Costantino Mastroprimiano
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Brilliant
Catalogue: 94378
Release: 2018
Size: 623 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Piano Sonata No. 1 in C Major, Op. 2 No. 3
01. I. Allegro spiritoso
02. II. Adagio
03. III. Rondo
Piano Sonata No. 4 in C major, Op. 38
04. I. Adagio maestoso – Allegro moderato
05. II. Adagio con molto espressione
06. III. Finale. Prestissimo
07. Fantasina in C Major, Op. 124
Piano Sonata No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 13
08. I. Allegro con brio
09. II. Adagio con grand espressione
10. III. Finale. Allegro con spirit
Piano Sonata No. 5 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 81
11. I. Allegro
12. II. Largo con molt’ espressione
13. III. Vivace
Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 20
14. I. Allegro moderato
15. II. Adagio maestoso – attacca
16. III. Presto – Ancor più presto
Piano Sonata No. 6 in D major, Op. 106
17. I. Allegro moderato ma risoluto
18. II. Un scherzo all’antica. Allegro non troppo
19. III. Larghetto a capriccio
20. IV. Finale. Allegro vivace
The first complete recording of the Hummel piano sonatas on fortepiano!
The name of Hummel usually is related to two other musical giants of his period: Mozart and Beethoven. Hummel was a pupil of the former and a rival of the later, both being piano virtuosos in Vienna.
Hummel’s piano style is influenced by Mozart in its adherence to the Classical Viennese Style and the grace and charm of his melodies. Beethoven’s influence is seen in the dramatic and sometimes stormy character of his music, whereas Hummel himself invented and developed his own personal pianism of unprecedented virtuosity and brilliance, which had great influence on piano composers after him (Chopin, Liszt and Schumann).
The complete sets issued by the budget Dutch label Brilliant often don’t satisfy, delivering mere bulk in place of intelligent, illuminating programming. An exception is this set of Hummel piano sonatas by Italian fortepianist Costantino Mastroprimiano, even if it’s not the complete set that’s promised (there are at least three more works that were unpublished during the composer’s lifetime but generally accepted as genuine). One might also complain that there was room on the CDs to do the sonatas in order, and that sequencing might have fit better with Mastroprimiano’s aims. All this said, hearing a lot of Hummel at once illuminates why he was well-regarded as a composer in his time, even by the notoriously praise-stingy Beethoven. Better still, other major Hummel releases have been mostly on a modern grand, but Mastroprimiano uses a pair of fortepianos, a 1790s Walter instrument, and an 1830s Erard. The cumulative effect is to give the listener an idea of the range of ways in which Hummel influenced the incipient Romantic movement. He influenced Schumann, Mendelssohn, Chopin, and Schubert in various ways, and here you get the serious slow movements, the expanded sparkling Mozartianism, the exploration of figuration, and the vastness of musical space, respectively. The strongest work is the truly proto-Romantic Piano Sonata No. 5 in D major, Op. 106, and you can sample that on the third CD. But each of the sonatas has something to contribute to the overall picture. Mastroprimiano is a talented pianist in this repertory, giving each sonata its particular sound and shade, and the set is heartily recommended to lovers of the pre-Romantic period.