
[This will also be posted in "New" Music Log.]
What an age we live in when not one, but two projects to record the complete keyboard sonatas of Leopold Koželuch are currently underway. Kemp English is recording the cycle for Grand Piano* while Jenny Soonjin Kim is doing so for Brilliant Classics. Mr English is further into his cycle than Ms Kim, but as Ms Kim's also satisfies my desire to listen to Asian artists, I decided to have this twofer be my first listen to an all-Koželuch release.
Ms Kim was born in Korea and earned her bachelor's in music from Seoul National University before pursuing additional studies first at the Salzburg Mozarteum, then UCLA, and finally earning a PhD in Historical Performance Practices from Claremont Graduate University, where she teaches. So she comes to this endeavor with a hefty academic background. Unsurprisingly, given her background, she uses a fortepiano in what at times sound like live recordings made at Kresge Chapel on the campus of Claremont School of Theology. As to the composer, Koželuch is one of those lesser known classical era composers whose name I've seen but whose music I've never really delved into. Born in 1747 in what is now the Czech Republic, he studied for a while in his hometown before studying with his cousin, one František Xaver Dušek, a rather well known musical personage. Koželuch apparently was quite famous in his day and cranked out many works in multiple genres, and when Mozart died, Koželuch took over some of his court functions.
To the music. This twofer contains the first eight of over fifty sonatas. All but one are in three movements, with the outlier a two movement job. All more or less adhere to the common fast-slow-fast structure. I'd be exaggerating if I wrote that these sonatas rise to the same level as the best of Mozart's, or even the very best efforts from Haydn or CPE Bach, but they definitely have their formidable charms. The best ones on offer best (sometimes handily) the lesser works from the bigger names. Aided by the crisp sound of the fortepiano, the fast movements are clean and clear and generally ebullient, which is aided by Kim's obviously excellent playing. Unsurprisingly, the slow movements lack the same degree of lyricism that modern grands can offer with their lengthier decays and greater sustain capabilities, but the softer sound of the instrument offsets that to a significant degree. The first two sonatas sort of sound like elaborate background music, but come the opening Allegro con brio of Op 1, No 3, one encounters music as fun as anything by Haydn. One also hears deft mood changes, including some music that satisfyingly dramatic without ever becoming heavy. Nice. The Poco Adagio that follows is fairly Mozartean and very nicely played by Kim, and the concluding Rondeau offers more contrasting material that moves beyond simple fast-slow-fast. So one needs to wait until only the third sonata for something ear-catching. The two movement Op 2, No 3 sonata starts off with a Largo - Poco presto movement that opens and closes with slow, dramatic music, with more spirited music in the Poco presto section, and ends with a fun Allegretto. It's a piece that an interventionist pianist could potentially make a meal of. The set ends with a nicknamed sonata, "The Hunt", and it's the best thing on the twofer. The opening Allegro molto is rhythmically and dynamically bold. The very long second movement - eleven minutes here - is an Andante and variations, with the theme an original one of not a little sophistication. Kim demonstrates the dynamic range of her instrument with some unexpectedly pointed sforzandi (and this from streaming), and Koželuch's variations have some nice invention in them. The concluding Rondeau is quick, dynamic, and fun. Though Kim plays it splendidly and with plenty of dynamic range, this work begs to be played on a modern grand.
This twofer does make me wonder what the second completed twofer offers - more of the same is my initial guess - as well as what Ms Kim sounds like in other repertoire. As luck would have it, she recorded core rep items for Arabesque Records, so I can find out. Also, it would be interesting to hear how these works fare when played on a modern grand, so I will give one or two or more of Mr English's discs a shot at some point. I will almost certainly be listening to Ms Kim's second volume in the near future.

I enjoyed the first volume of Jenny Soonjin Kim's Koželuch's sonatas enough that I figured I should listen to her second volume right away. Another twofer with another eight sonatas, it picks up where the prior volume left off. Sonatas range from two to four movements this time around. The pieces sound stylistically, and more important, qualitatively equal, or really close to, those of Haydn certainly, and maybe even Mozart. Dynamic shifts are more pronounced in some of the sonatas than in the first volume. While all the sonatas hold their appeal, lucky Number Thirteen stands out as especially enjoyable, and brimming over with ideas. And if the Fourteenth seems something of a step down, with a slow movement that overstays its welcome, all is well again in the most excellent Fifteenth Sonata, in E Minor, Op 13, No 3, which has hints of drama in just the right places and proportions. So does the tripartite opening the Sixteenth sonata, which has a more agitated K457 vibe that's almost proto-Beethovenian. Kim again delivers all the sonatas with some very fine playing. When she's done, if Brilliant issues the complete set, I may spring for it, provided the modern grand alternative is not better. (The downside to having two ongoing complete sets is that both may be good enough to warrant purchase.)
* Mr English also wrote his dissertation on Koželuch's keyboard sonatas. It is available online:
https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/84697/8/02whole.pdf