Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op 10, No 1, 2 & 3 Mari Kodama

• Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10, No. 3
• 1 I. Presto 07:15
• 2 II. Largo e mesto 09:19
• 3 III. Menuetto - Trio - Menuetto: Allegro 02:42
• 4 IV. Rondo: Allegro 04:14
• 5 I. Allegro 08:49
• 6 II. Allegretto 04:43
• 7 III. Finale: Presto 04:01
• Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1
• 8 I. Molto allegro e con brio 05:34
• 9 II. Adagio molto 07:55
• 10 III. Finale: Prestissimo 04:29
• Total Runtime 59:01

Info for Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op 10, No 1, 2 & 3

Mari Kodama continues her cycle of piano sonatas. 'What really comes across, is her affection for the music, her wish to give it time so that we may enjoy its shape, harmonies and details.'

The three op. 10s make for a satisfying program, though they’re curiously presented in reverse order here (Beethoven’s own is more logical, with the biggest, most ambitious work placed last).

No. 1 in C Minor goes well, with few surprises. Kodama generally lets the outer movements speak for themselves—straight, incisive, dramatic, forceful, with effective lyrical contrasts. Tension is well maintained, with a convincing sense of real performance (vs. a recording-studio run-through). The Adagio is straightforward, perhaps to a fault—here I miss the imaginative flexibility and expressive depths others bring to the music (e.g., Schiff/ECM, Lewis/Harmonia Mundi, or the recently reviewed Ohlsson/Bridge and Ehlen/Azica). The recorded sound of her Steinway is rich, resonant, and close, but a little “plummy” for my taste, with a pronounced resonant overhang. Her playing is certainly not over-pedaled, but a real staccato articulation is in short supply.

This is a bigger drawback in the first movement of No. 2 in F where, for all the poise and polish, Beethoven’s numerous injunctions to very short articulations (e.g., at the beginning, bars 38 ff., and 47 ff.) are rarely effectively realized. The development has a slightly stolid feel (the second repeat is observed). The F-Minor Allegretto is taken slowly, to rather dour effect, with (for my taste) an insufficient variety of texture and attack; the Presto finale is kept well under control at a moderate tempo. In the last resort, I find this all a little too uneventful.

The big D Major receives the most consistently satisfying performance of the three. The opening Presto is richly varied, supple and sinuous, with an exciting surging momentum. The Largo e mesto is all dark, glinting marble, and in this instance the finale finds her relishing the music’s wide-ranging phrase and textural discontinuities.

So, a slightly mixed bag. But there’s much playing of real distinction here, and anyone wanting a high-quality version of the three op. 10s in state-of-the-art sound won’t go wrong. For the general collector, perhaps not a first choice (see alternatives mentioned above), but I’ll be keeping this in my collection, and can see returning to the first and third sonatas. (Boyd Pomeroy, FANFARE)

Mari Kodama, Piano

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