Barbara Bonney - The Other Mozart (2005)

In this year of Mozart celebrations, it's tempting to explore the Mozart legacy, and Barbara Bonney has discovered what she likens to "a new species or a new island in the Pacific": 27 songs by Mozart's youngest son, born five months before his father's death. Though she admits that their importance is mostly "musicological," she loves them--hence this recording. Franz Xavier Mozart, not surprisingly, had musical talent, but it was his mother's astute business sense and determination to cash in on her husband's fame that fuelled his career as pianist and composer; she even added "Wolfgang" to his name. To this reportedly shy, charming young man, the twin burden of her driving ambition and his father's looming shadow must have been well-nigh intolerable. Listening to these songs, one can hardly escape the conclusion that if the composer's name were not Mozart, nobody would have troubled to unearth or perform them. They are pleasant and simple; the melodies are often lovely, but the harmonies are undistinguished, without interesting modulations, and the accompaniments are trite, consisting mainly of broken chords. Young Mozart seems to have shared his father's predilection for choosing terrible poetry, but lacked his gift fur turning literary dross into musical gold. However, he learned as he went along. Composed between 1808 and 1829, the later songs are noticeably superior to the earlier ones, and a few contain enough variety to sound like operatic scenes. But it is the piano introductions and postludes that are most successful; in Malcolm Martineau's rivetingly beautiful, sensitive performance, they establish mood and atmosphere, surrounding the songs with a magical expressive glow like a halo. Bonney's affection for the songs is beyond doubt. Unfortunately, her voice is not at its best: it sounds shrill and forced, but improves toward the end. -- Edith Eisler