"Clementi deserves a wider audience. For this reason alone I might have given the collection 5 stars. I think that anyone who enjoys Mozart's Sonatas, along with Beethoven's early to middle sonatas (and the classical sonata in general) would be very surprised by the power of Clementi's pianistic imagination.
Clementi's fame as a pianist, in his own day, was such that he was invited to compete with Mozart. The judgment was a draw, which brought out some of Mozart's ugliest epistolatory moods. While there is no contemporary composer who ever approached Mozart's overall genius, some of his contemporaries rivaled him in individual genres. I personally find Haydn's symphonies to be, as a whole, more interesting than Mozart's, even though Mozart's final symphonies exceed Haydn's. I find Haydn's String Quartets, when taken together, to be a greater achievement than Mozart's, though Mozart's last quartets, again, exceed Haydn's.
Clementi's particular genius (and I do mean genius) pertained to the piano and the piano sonata. I have always felt that Mozart's one failing was in the genre of the piano sonata. His conception of the genre's possibilities never seemed to outgrow its roots in JC Bach. Clementi, on the other hand, was excelling Mozart even in Mozart's own day, strongly foreshadowing Beethoven. (Beethoven was said to have preferred Clementi's Sonatas to Mozart.)
So, am I saying Clementi was better than Mozart? In a way, I am. Clementi's conception of the Piano Sonata was broader and more innovative than Mozart's. In comparison to Mozart, his melodic ideas lack the same depth and breadth, but their are pianistic touches that one wants to linger over again and again, more so than with Mozart. In every other musical genre that I have heard Clementi's work is, to me, mediocre.
Which brings me to his chamber music. Clementi's Violin Sonatas do not withstand comparison to Mozart's, though they can be compared to some of Haydn's. What makes them somewhat worthwhile is when Clementi's pianistic and melodic innovations, from his piano sonatas, find their way into his chamber music. Unfortunately, he doesn't quite grasp how to make use of the violin and so the violin frequently does little more than double the piano, while the cello shows even less independence, much like Haydn's trios.
These aren't real trios. They are piano sonatas with Violin and Cello accompaniment. That said, they are probably the best examples of the form after Mozart and Haydn, and that is saying something. If you enjoy music from this period, they are worth listening to, especially at this price.
So... why three stars? They are for the recording engineer(s). The whole set sounds as though it were recorded in a tin can and in the room next door. The violin sounds anemic and the cellist sounds as if he were hiding in the corner. Spada's playing remains polite & competent, the kind of playing that can hardly be differentiated from hundreds of other proficient pianists. I could wish for a more impassioned pianist. Even so, I am grateful that he's dedicated so much effort to Clementi. He's worth hearing & at a great price.
Track Listings (18) - Disc #1
