Clementi: Flute Sonatas

On this CD:

1. Piano (Harpsichord) Sonata with flute (or violin) accompaniment in G major, Op. 2/3
Composed by Muzio Clementi
Performed by Andrea Coen

2. Piano (Harpsichord) Sonata with flute (or violin) accompaniment in F major, Op. 2/5
Composed by Muzio Clementi
Performed by Andrea Coen

3. Piano (Harpsichord) Sonata with flute (or violin) accompaniment in F major, Op. 3/4
Composed by Muzio Clementi
Performed by Andrea Coen

4. Piano (Harpsichord) Sonata with flute (or violin) accompaniment in C major, Op. 3/6
Composed by Muzio Clementi
Performed by Andrea Coen

5. Piano (Harpsichord) Sonata with violin (or flute) accompaniment in D major, Op. 4/1
Composed by Muzio Clementi
Performed by Andrea Coen

6. Piano (Harpsichord) Sonata with violin (or flute) accompaniment in G major, Op. 4/4
Composed by Muzio Clementi
Performed by Andrea Coen

7. Piano Sonata with violin (or flute) accompaniment in G major, Op. 13/1
Composed by Muzio Clementi
Performed by Andrea Coen

Customer Reviews:

A Lot of Charming Clementi.......2006-11-30

These days, Clementi seems best known for his six Op. 36 sonatinas, which are included in this collection (as disc 12). Long-forgotten is his role as virtually THE first keyboardist who composed exclusively for piano, as well as his later piano-building enterprise. Once deemed Mozart's equal in improvisation by an Emperor, and the editor and publisher of numerous works by Beethoven, this composer of 110 sonatas (think late Mozart sonatas, rather than Beethoven sonatas) is still largely ignored, even after some championing by Horowitz for a time.

This nine disc set, a companion to the nine-disc Vol. 1 also recorded by Pietro Spada, aims to change that and puts forth the second half of virtually everything by Clementi. As such, it is not possible to review all of the music here. Nevertheless, some broad remarks may be made.

First, it should be noted that the discs in this set are also available individually. So if $110 seems a daunting price, one may graze the discs separately. Each runs about an hour. Additionally, there are a number of piecemeal recordings of different sonatas out there, including some by Horowitz. But since there is nothing definitively famous by Clementi, except perhaps his six Sonatinas, there's something very much to be said about having a complete collection by a single performer.

Second, it must be noted that the sound quality is a bit spotty at times. There's a kind of stuffy-nose tone on Disc 11 that can be a bit obtrusive. For example, the op. 34, no. 2 sonata's opening movement sounds suspiciously tinny. Perhaps Disc 11 is not enough to be a deal-breaker for the whole set, but certainly audiophiles will not be able to "hear around it" to get at the admittedly not uninteresting sonatas included on the disc; definitely a shame that these pieces should perhaps go overlooked for that reason, since the Op. 34 sonatas may be precisely the ones Horowitz was referring to when he declared Clementi as sometimes equal to Beethoven at his best.

Musically, Clementi dwells, stylistically and happily, between Mozart and Beethoven, oscillating smoothly from Classical to Romantic (as Beethoven did, but less extremely so). His sonatas are certainly "meaty," and generally run around 15 minutes, with a broad range of pianistic sentiments, expressions and charm. But perhaps what makes them most enjoyable is their liveliness. While self-evidently "Classical era" music, this is not Northern European Classical per se (Mozart, Haydn, early Beethoven); the verve of late Italian Baroque is still very much felt here. It is, more precisely, a Classicism that has not entirely foregone affective musical elements in favor of form.

The music is also, comparatively speaking, very easy to play, while nevertheless being trickier than a lot of Mozart at times. This is one reason it is not much recorded, and certainly not in a complete cycle like this. In fact, the six Sonatinas are best known precisely because countless piano students have essayed one or all of them in their graduating difficulty.

Which brings up one of the most wonderful things about this collection. Spada performs these pieces with an immense degree of good sense. Or perhaps the truth is that this is as far in the piano repertoire as he can go. If so, then thank goodness for it, since it is completely wonderful to hear a pianist not trying to turn these pieces into grand concert hall works by applying warp-speed tempos and a too-precious technique. These are not virtuosos pieces, and needn't be played as such, for the same reason that Bach's tiny Minuet in G Major should not be turned into a virtuoso showpiece either.

This is nowhere so perfectly apparent as on Disc 12, which presents all six of the famous Sonatinas. Presented with grace, simplicity, and all of the charm of a student recital (in the best and most accomplished sense of the word), Clementi's most-played, least-recorded pieces are given a wonderful airing. If, indeed, the Sonatinas are the only pieces you know by Clementi, then the recordings here will not only be rewarding, but might certainly tempt one to check out the rest of his body of work.

Elegance without conceit, charm without gush, simplicity without simple-mindedness--Spada brings out the most elemental, basic joys to be found in music that Clementi himself wrote into his works. One cannot compare him to the titanism of Beethoven's loftiest sonatas, or the structural genius of Mozart, but neither was he aiming for it. There's a sweetness and fanfare to his music that is just plain good-natured, something like the kind of big-hearted humanness in Schubert (with the emotional outbursts in a more restrained register, however). Or, putting it another way, in almost fourteen discs (in Vol. 1 and 2), there are only three sonatas in a minor key.

Overall, while it's easy enough to imagine these many pieces being played better, it's very difficult to imagine them being played more ideally.

Muzio Clementi: 7 Sonatas for Fortepiano and Flute - Andrea Coen / Laura Pontecorvo

Average customer rating:

Muzio Clementi: 7 Sonatas for Fortepiano and Flute - Andrea Coen / Laura Pontecorvo

Manufacturer: Dynamic
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00004OCGV
Release Date: 2000-03-01

Clementi: Sonatas for Piano and Violin I

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Clementi: Sonatas for Piano and Violin I

Manufacturer: Rivo Alto
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000HXJF
Release Date: 1999-03-23

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Muzio Clementi: Piano Works, Vol. 17

Manufacturer: Arts Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Toccatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000JIQ0
Release Date: 1999-07-13

Tracks:

Finale in B flat, WO23
Duettino in C, WO24: Allegro
Duettino in C, WO24: Alla Negra
Duettino in C, WO24: Alla Negra (Var)
Duettino in C, WO24: Alla Negra (Var)
Duettino in C, WO24: Finale: Allegro
Duettino in G, WO25: Allegro Vivace
Duettino in G, WO25: Mazurka-Andante Con Moto
Duettino in C, WO26
(Duettino) Chasse-Allegro in C, WO27
(Duettino) Allegro in C, WO28
Canone Per Cherubini WO29
Toccata in B flat, Op.11
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Prld I Alla Haydn
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Prld II Alla Haydn
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Prld I Alla Mozart
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Prld II Alla Mozart
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Prld I Alla Kozeluch
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Prld II Alla Kozeluch
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Prld I Alla Sterkel
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Prld II Alla Sterkel
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Prld I Alla Vanhal
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Prld II Alla Vanhal
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Prld I Alla Clementi
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Prld II Alla Clementi
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Cadenza Alla Haydn
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Cadenza Alla Mozart
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Cadenza Alla Kozeluch
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Cadenza Alla Sterkel
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Cadenza Alla Vanhal
Musical Characteristics, Op.19: Cadenza Alla Clementi

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Clementi: Violin Sonatas

Manufacturer: Dynamic Italy
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00004SZWP
Release Date: 2000-04-15

Muzio Clementi: Sonatas for Harpsichord Accompanied by Flute & Cello - Andrea Coen / Enrico Casularo / Vito Paternoster

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Muzio Clementi: Sonatas for Harpsichord Accompanied by Flute & Cello - Andrea Coen / Enrico Casularo / Vito Paternoster

Manufacturer: Bongiovanni
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00008ESHP
Release Date: 1994-04-05