Mozart composed and performed on a fortepiano by Anton Walter, which featured a 'Viennese mechanism' that was at the forefront of innovation at the time.
Composition History
The Fragment in C minor for Piano and Violin, K. 396 (385f), was completed by Benedictine abbot Maximilian Stadler, a scholar and friend of Mozart, who was deeply familiar with Mozart's compositional style.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Mozart's piano compositions often appear as direct transcripts of his improvisations, and he expected performers to improvise their own introductory phrases and cadenzas.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded in September and October 2015 at the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle in Hamburg.
Cultural Impact
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who owned the autograph of Mozart's C minor fragment, believed Mozart should have composed 'Faust' and saw 'something unachievable in music' in his works.
Composition History
Mozart's Concerto in D for Violin, Piano and Orchestra, K. 315f, was commissioned by the Mannheim Académie des amateurs and its concertmaster Ignaz Fränzl, but Mozart only completed the first 120 bars.
Performer Biography
Rainer Kussmaul, the violinist on this recording, was the first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic from 1993 to 1997 and plays a 1724 Antonius Stradivarius violin.
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Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24, Piano Concerto No. 25, Fantasia for Solo Piano in D Minor
