Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397; Fantasia in C Minor, K. 475; Sonata in C
Minor, K. 457 — Zeynep Ucbasaran, piano — Eroica Classical JDT
3222 70:48****:
A most intelligent and convincing Mozart recital, this collection of
solo piano works, recorded 1-3 February 2005 at Abravanel Hall in Santa
Barbara, has Turkish virtuoso Zeynep Ucbasaran on her Steinway in
strong form, making plastic and clear lines of works composed
1787-1789. Ucbasaran’s strong suit is her clean articulation girded by
a powerful sonority — sometimes a bit too lavishly applied, if you
prefer your Mozart in the Clara Haskil manner. Like Haskil, the more
extroverted Ucbasaran favors the Nine Variations on a Minuet by Duport,
a D Major tune taken from a cello sonata for which Mozart wrote six
variations originally, then added a group of three. Some of the
variants indicate what Mozart’s improvisational style was like,
although the minor-key fantasias are likely closer to the moody,
empfindsamkeit (emotional style) Mozart took from Karl Philip Emanuel
Bach.
For both the D Minor and the C Minor Fantasias, Ucbasaran applies a
softer, more intimate palette, relishing the harmonic modulations as an
essential aspect of the dramas. The applications of turns and mordants
can be a bit precious, but the galant spirit’s collision with a
burgeoning romanticism is plain enough. The trick of the C Minor
Fantasy is, like Chopin’s knotty Polonaise-Fantasie, Op. 61, to hold
the disparate emotional threads together. Along with the implied
demonism in this piece, Ucbasaran manages some transparent textures. If
the C Major Sonata K. 330 is all charm and symmetrical effect, the C
Minor Sonata is concentrated turmoil, a storm and stress just a step
ahead of Beethoven’s own fervent C Minor creations. Both laconic and
emotionally charged, the piece permits Ucbasaran’s natural taste for
Liszt and Bartok some means of indulgence — the fiorituras becoming
darkly bold even as she renders some of the figures alla musette. No
credit is given to the production engineer, but the sonics for this
Steinway are thoroughly ingratiating in the middle and upper registers,
especially given this pianist’s predilection for a hard, fast patina.
–Gary Lemco
