Mozart: Piano Works

Featuring

Trudelies Leonhardt
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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Instruments

The fortepiano used for this recording is a 1992 copy of a Viennese fortepiano from 1795 by Anton Walter, a renowned instrument maker.

Performer Biography

Trudelies Leonhardt, the fortepiano player on this album, comes from a family of musicians; her brother is the well-known harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt.

Performer Biography

Trudelies Leonhardt has recorded about thirty CDs, primarily featuring works by Schubert and Beethoven, and this is her third Mozart CD for Musica Omnia.

Instruments

This fortepiano has three knee levers to control its sound: one for 'forte' (lifting dampers), one for 'moderator' (a felt strip between hammers and strings), and one for 'una corda' (shifting hammers to strike fewer strings).

Composer's Artistic Vision

Mozart was an early adopter of the fortepiano, exploiting its expressive capabilities by combining the clavichord's expressiveness with the harpsichord's volume, which was better suited for public performance.

Instruments

The fortepiano on this recording is tuned to 415 Hz, a common concert pitch for the late 18th century.

Historical Context

The fortepiano, developed in Italy around the late 17th century, met a growing demand for 'expressiveness' by allowing dynamic variation through touch.