This disc is a reissue of recordings made ten years
ago but has been only intermittently available since then. Roberte Mamou
recorded the complete Mozart piano sonatas on five CDs, and all five
of these are now available once again. Their return is to be welcomed,
since the performances are stylistically sensitive and the recordings
generally natural and clear.
Mamou plays a modern instrument rather than a fortepiano,
but the insert notes tell us precious little about the circumstances
of the recording. The same is true of the programme note, alas, which
describes the background and music of all three sonatas within three
short paragraphs. Moreover the danger of easy generalisation and enthusiastic
over-statement is not avoided: 'In the summer of 1778, Mozart arrived
in Paris with his mother who, sick and abandoned by her son, died on
July 3rd. This is doubtless the explanation for all the dramatic force
of the first of these 'Parisian' sonatas, in A minor.' Surely this is
a case of two plus two being made to make five. There is also a consistent
error in the key ascribed to the famous A major Sonata, K331, which
is wrongly labelled as being in E throughout.
The Tunisian-born pianist Roberte Mamou is based in
Europe, and has worked mostly in Belgium. She has just the right manner
for this repertoire, always seeming to choose an appropriate tempo and
to phrase with care for the musical line and the thematic personality.
When these things feel as spontaneous and natural as they do here, the
performer can take due credit.
The A minor Sonata, K310, is a masterpiece typical
of Mozart's ability to make a penetrating musical statement with minimum
strain. Mamou, as usual, gets the tempo just right in the first movement
(TRACK 1, 0.00), allowing the obsessive rhythmic cell to make its nagging
point. I am less convinced by the succeeding Andante cantabile, however,
in which her phrasing takes little account of Mozart's 'con espressione'
marking (TRACK 2, 1.30), with somewhat prosaic results.
The performances of the other two sonatas, K330 and
K331, are more completely successful, developing a pleasing balance
of lyricism and rhythmic activity all to good stylistic effect. The
opening Allegro moderato of the C major Sonata (TRACK 4, 0.00) is a
fine example of her special understanding of this repertoire. She also
shapes the bold opening movement variations of K331 in such a way that
they feel like a whole unit rather than a succession of miniatures.
Moreover her relatively slow tempo for the central minuet makes a nice
balance between this and the final 'Turkish' rondo, which is delightfully
pointed in its phrasing.
Terry Barfoot
See also volumes one
and four
NOTE •
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Roberte Mamou (piano) 
