Anton Eberl (1765-1807)
Sonate en do mineur, op. 1
Sonatine en do majeur, op. 5
Grande Sonate en sol mineur, op. 27
Grande Sonate en do majeur, op. 43
12 Variations en mi bémol sur "Bei Männern weiche Liebe fuhlen" de l'opéra "La Flûte Enchantée" de W.A. Mozart

Sayuri Nagoya, pianoforte (Brodmann, 1805)

Eberl vouait à Mozart une admiration sans borne (pour preuve sa cantate de 1791 « sur la tombe de Mozart ») et fit preuve pour sa veuve d’un grand dévouement. Ses compositions contemporaines n’égalent toutefois pas celles de son modèle (bataillant contre des éditeurs indélicats, Constance leur suggéra de ne pas ternir leur réputation de sérieux en attribuant à Mozart des pages d’Eberl truffées de fautes de composition). Quinze ans plus tard, les sonates op. 27 et op. 43 sont bien plus intéressantes, dans un style totalement renouvelé et plutôt original. Cet enregistrement de 2018 récompense le premier prix du deuxième concours de pianoforte de Rome, remporté par Sayuri Nagoya. Loin des traditionnelles cartes de visites, il démontre de belles qualités : le programme est composé avec soin pour donner une bonne idée des styles d’Eberl, et l’interprète ne fait qu’une bouchée de la virtuosité démonstrative du pianiste-compositeur. L’autre vedette du disque est le pianoforte Brodmann contemporain des sonates de 1805, magnifiquement restauré et réglé par Ugo Casiglia. Un peu trop saturé de résonances pour l’écriture « alla Mozart » des œuvres encore marquées par l’héritage du clavecin, il donne toute sa mesure dans les deux « Grandes Sonates » qui débordent de couleurs. Peut-être pas un disque majeur, mais un beau disque et une interprète à connaître. (Olivier Eterradossi)

New recordings of keyboard music by a now-unfamiliar Viennese friend of Mozart, once admired by the likes of Haydn and Gluck, and whose pieces were previously attributed to Mozart himself. Born in Vienna in 1765, Anton Eberl lived a quieter life than Mozart, and his music does not court the scandal or venture to the expressive extremes of his contemporary, friend and mentor. After Mozart’s death in 1756, Eberl toured with his widow Constanze Mozart and her equally accomplished sister, Aloysia Lange, before Eberl married a third talented soprano, Maria Anna Scheffler, and the pair moved to Saint Petersburg, which at the time was establishing an artistic court to rival any of the capitals of Europe. Eberl worked there as Kapellmeister to the Russian royal family for a decade (1796-1805) before moving back to Vienna. Only two years later, at the height of his reputation, Eberl caught scarlet fever and died at the age of 41. By then Eberl had also become well acquainted (perhaps not so friendly) with Beethoven. Sayuri Nagoya’s personal selection from Eberl’s keyboard output encompasses the earlier and later stages of his career, beginning with a set of variations on ‘Bei Männern’ from Die Zauberflo¨te which was composed within months of the Singspiel’s premiere at the Theater an der Wien. Dating from a year or two after Mozart’s death, the Sonata Op.1 was originally published under his name, and Eberl’s Sonatina Op 5 (1796) likewise inhabits a Mozartian grammar. By the time of the G minor Sonata Op 27, however, Eberl had developed a bolder and more dramatic idiom of keyboard writing, doubtless also under the influence of the intervening decade of technological innovation which brought about instruments with a wider compass and broader dynamic range. The C major Sonata Op 43 opens with a grand introduction before launching into an Allegro of high contrasts. The album leaves the listener with a full appreciation of Eberl’s gifts as well as a tantalising sense of where his talents might have taken him next. Born in Tokyo, a graduate in piano and harpsichord from the conservatoire in Brussels, Sayuri Nagoya has dedicated herself to the repertoire composed in the crossover period between the two instruments at the turn of the 19th century. On this recording she plays an instrument by the Viennese firm of Brodmann. As she writes in the booklet essay, ‘my fingers finally found a deep connection with the keys, bringing out a warm and melancholic sound, not unlike the human voice.’