Concert at Lewis and Clark College, March 15, 2001, Portland, Oregon
Review of Mozart III by Fanfare Magazine
Short Reviews
Author: John P. Marmaro written on CDBaby
One the greatest losses in music history, as most people are at least aware, was the premature death of Mozart. But almost no one is aware that music suffered another loss perhaps as great: the death of Hyacinthe Jadin at the age of only 24. From the music he left, had he fulfilled even a part of his promise, he would have been a giant. As it is, even with the relatively small amount of music we do have, he deserves to be considered one of the finest composers of the classical era after the four giants (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert). And we can equally be thankful for Richard Fuller's splendid recording of the complete H. Jadin piano sonatas. They are works of genius; surprisingly so, with a fertility of invention, a richness and complexity that are all the more astonishing when one considers how very young Jadin was, and how isolated (in the aftermath of the French Revolution) he was from the newest developments in music from abroad. This set may be considered a foundation item in the discography of the High Classical Period, and deepest thanks to Mr Fuller for making it!
Mozart Sonatas on Fortepiano, August 13, 2006
By J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) on Amazon.com
I was not particularly prepared to like this release, largely because I seem to have a blind (deaf?) spot regarding the sound of the instrument involved, the fortepiano. Too often, for me, the sound of the fortepiano sounds perilously close to that of a toy piano tinkling away when what I'd prefer is the strong sound of the modern pianoforte. Still, listening to this CD I was charmed by the sound which is actually quite appealing without being quaint. That is to say, there is strength to the tone even though one would never mistake it for that of a modern Steinway. But more important is the playing of Richard Fuller. Fuller is an American fortepianist and clavichordist who specializes in the music of the Viennese Classical and early Romantic periods. He ably demonstrates the wide range of expression and dynamic of the fortepiano, adding discreet ornaments and lightly elaborated cadences as presumably Mozart himself or other late 18th-century instrumentalists would have done. The result of both his approach and the sound of the instrument is that these sonatas which, in the words of Anthony Newman, are 'miniaturized' when played on a modern grand piano, emerge as subtle but strong works. Even the first sonata -- the ever-familiar Sonata in C, K.545 -- is heard as the potent work it truly is, not the miniature as performed by beginning piano students. The performances of the four sonatas, plus the fine Fantasy in D Minor -- one of Mozart's towering keyboard works -- are both light and intense. Don't ask me how Fuller manages that seeming contradiction. This recording was originally made in 1988 and released on an obscure German label. It and two subsequent Fuller Mozart Klavierwerk CDs were remastered and re-released by Palatine Records in 2001. It's well worth hearing.