If you enjoy early Mendelssohn (and you can argue that much of it is better than late Mendelssohn), you’ll certainly want this disc, containing as it does four totally unknown piano sonatas. Each has three movements, and each is based in a minor key: F, E, A, and C. This is a good thing: Mendelssohn in minor keys has his own special brand of musical pathos, and it was to some extent present from the beginning. Of the four sonatas the F minor and E minor are quite large in concept and are very successful, even though the composer was only about 11 when he wrote them. The little A minor sonata comes closest to the style of Haydn and Mozart, with its central minuet enclosed by two very short, quick movements.
The remainder of the disc consists of three etudes, in C major, A minor, and D minor, and two fugues, in E-flat and C-sharp minor respectively. Both are imposing pieces; the latter, which is a double fugue, is particularly ample in scale and quite grand in terms of its musical architecture. It’s fascinating to see how often Mendelssohn was drawn to minor keys, given his reputation as a somewhat facile, reserved artist. While this isn’t exactly music dripping with emotion in the mode of, say, Berlioz (or even Schumann), it certainly isn’t shallow, and of course it’s unfailingly pleasing to the ear.
As in his first volume of Mendelssohn rarities, pianist Roberto Prosseda proves a reliable guide to these unfamiliar pieces, and he is very well recorded. He has the right lightness of touch in the quick movements of the sonatas, and he never makes the mistake of treating the music more sententiously than it deserves. His legato playing in the slow movements is also very sweet, but tastefully so, never cloying. I do wish that he had put a bit more oomph and character into the beginnings of the two fugues (from whence comes the rule that contrapuntal music need not be expressive at the start?), but this is a minor quibble, as the performances are technically fully up to the task at hand. Very appealing indeed!
