About This Item
Leopold Koželuch (1747-1818) was a Bohemian composer-pianist who moved to Vienna in 1778, three years before Mozart settled there. The sonatas (49 in total) share qualities with the work of his teacher Dussek, and Burney's contemporary assessment of Kozeluch's music stands true today 'natural, graceful and flowing, without imitating any great model, as almost all his contemporaries have done. His modulation is natural and pleasing... His rhythm is well phrased, his accents well placed, and harmony pure.' Volume 3 covers Sonatas Nos.17-33, written between 1785 and 1791. No less than Haydn's work in the genre, they invent ever-new and imaginative forms. The two-movement No.18 contrasts a gentle set of variations with a dashing Allegro; the three-movement No.19 in F minor opens with a grave slow movement introducing a passionate, exploratory Allegro agitato; the A major No.20 returns to the free-spirited pastoral idiom of Kozeluch's background, with a lilting opening Allegro, a reflective but smiling Adagio and freewheeling finale. Such variety of form and temperament continues throughout the collection. 'Jenny Soonjin Kim plays with an almost Baroque flair well-fitting of the music... The period treatment that Kim brings to the kozeluch Koželuch sonatas gives them a crisp texture and very nearly tactile character... Kim's performance is commanding and authoritative. The sonics are superb... an inspired and inspiring collection.' (All About Jazz, reviewing volume 1) 'Kim's playing is crystalline and lyrical, with exquisitely sensitive phrasing. She is an assured virtuoso who interprets Koželuch's music beautifully. This set will interest pianists who would like to augment their repertoire with unknown gems from the period.' (Early Music America) On this album Jenny Soonjin Kim plays a modern German copy of an Anton Walter fortepiano made in Vienna in 1795. Album Tracks
