Mitsuko Uchida Plays Beethoven

Up until now I’ve not heard Ms Uchida in Beethoven. The Second Viennese School aside, I’m not a big fan of what I have heard from Ms Uchida. I find her Mozart a bit too fussy. Her Schubert, too. Besides, her playing doesn’t seem quite big enough for Beethoven. Whatever my reservations, I felt I surely must give her new disc of Elveebee’s last three sonatas a try.

Not bad. Not great, either. That’s the short version. The long version, well, there are some recurring themes. I’ll start with the positives: Ms Uchida’s playing is generally on the swift side, is always admirably clear, and is somewhat on the light side at all the right times. Some of the negatives: musical tension often goes missing, there’s a lack of that spiritual or searching or metaphysical (or other high-falutin’ adjective of your choice) playing, and the playing is somewhat on the light side at all the wrong times. The specifics, well . . .

The disc opens with the Op 109, of course, and all of Uchida’s strengths and weaknesses are on display. The Vivace, ma non troppo that opens the work is quick, clear, and relatively light, with fine dynamic control. Tonal variety is somewhat limited when compared to other pianists, though that’s hardly a major flaw. Uchida’s playing is also meticulously prepared. Absolutely every aspect of the music sounds as though Uchida went over the score for a very long period and decided to illuminate everything in it. Rarely have I heard such clear part playing, and that combines with a certain gracefulness that is quite appealing in its way. It is, in a word, meticulous, though, thankfully, it’s not fussy. It’s also not very involving. The Prestissimo is most certainly that: Uchida speeds up her already swift overall tempo and throws in some nice, perfectly controlled bass playing to boot. So far, so-so. The final movement is where the weaknesses really start to appear. The Andante theme, while beautifully played, sounds a bit rushed and simply didn’t sound engaging any of the four times I listened to it. It’s outward looking and concerned with what’s on the surface, not introspective and searching. The variations fare only moderately well, though the faster third and weightier fifth do sound quite good. Largely absent is that spiritual and/or transportive quality that I demand. It’s exquisitely played but uninvolving.

The same overall issue permeates the entire Op 110 sonata. The opening Moderato cantabile is quick and light and definitely beautiful, but to what end? It’s just sort of there. Perhaps because Uchida’s playing up to this point is the model of light, swift gracefulness, the slightly slower Allegro molto sounds a bit deliberate – almost fussy – by comparison. In the Adagio Uchida slows things way down and almost establishes that ultimately indefinable but always critical late-LvB soundworld. But it also sounds a trifle calculated. The first appearance of the fugue finds Ms Uchida playing with a clarity approaching that of Barenboim or Kuerti, but it still lacks that certain something. The second pass at the Arioso material finally succeeds in crossing the line to become involving, but it’s still not ideal. The repeated chord build up to the second pass at the contrapuntal material possesses some nicely terraced dynamics even though the notes sound curiously soft. The fugal material is largely like the first go-round, and the work comes to a solid conclusion. But again, to what end?

The disc ends with the best performance. The Maestoso opening is nicely paced, a bit darker, and sounds quasi-dramatic. It ain’t quite the real thing, though. The subsequent Allegro con brio ed appassionato is very strongly characterized (within the context of Uchida’s playing), dark, and strong. It’s just not very ominous. Still, there is an undeniable degree of excitement that is absent from the prior works. The second movement opens with a nicely paced, beautiful sounding, but ultimately unmoving Arietta, and then moves onto a slightly slow (for Uchida) set of variations. Again, the playing is clear and attractive but not engaging. The third variation, for instance, while faster and more vigorous than the first two, doesn’t have the rhythmic snap I crave. The long chains of trills later in the movement are somewhat flat – shouldn’t the music be more ethereal and questioning here? Anyway, the piece trails off nicely but left me wanting more.

I don’t know if Ms Uchida plans on recording all of the sonatas or not, but if this disc is an indication of what is in store, it certainly won’t be among the elite cycles in my estimation. Just a couple days before I heard this I relistened to Robert Silverman’s Rouvain recordings of the same works, and he delivers much more of all the elements lacking here. His playing isn’t as refined as Uchida – and her playing is certainly that – but it is far more involving. Then when one considers the likes of Annie, or Kempff, or Schnabel, or another titan of this music, one realizes what is missing. Maybe she’ll be more at home in earlier works. In many ways this disc reminds me of the Takacs Quartet’s recording of the late quartets: the playing is technically accomplished, but the most important elements of the music are largely absent. That just won’t do. At least the sound of this disc is superb.