The second installment of Analekta’s Mozart piano and violin sonatas with violinist Jean-François Rivest and fortepianist David Breitman may well surpass Volume 1’s high artistic and sonic standards. As before, the musicians take full timbral advantage of their period instruments (a 1975 replica of the 1970 Anton Walter fortepiano, and a Mathias Albanus, Bullani violin, circa 1680) in order to keep the textures fresh and the musical discourse vibrant. As a result, the F major K. 377’s central variation movement unfolds like a characterful short story that you simply can’t put down. While the first movement settles into a slightly slower basic tempo than Rivest and Breitman set at the start, the duo’s inflected interplay and varied accentuation prevent things from dragging. They fuse grace and pungency to lovely effect in the companion F major K. 376 sonata, while their moderate, relaxed pace throughout the B-flat K. 378 sonata’s allegro finale allows Mozart’s turns and embellishments more dancing room than usual.
The two players give the A major K. 526 first movement’s cross rhythms their full due, and they activate the Andante’s bass lines so that the music moves forward, as opposed to the relatively prettified and inert modern-instrument Uchida/Steinberg traversal of similar vintage. The two E-flat major sonatas also receive splendid, sharply detailed performances. I especially enjoyed the duo’s bracing articulation in K. 481’s Molto Allegro, and the refreshingly terse, slightly sec approach to the Adagio. In sum, collectors seeking a period-instrument Mozart piano and violin cycle will gain lasting satisfaction from this first-rate release. [07/19/2005]
