Brilliance, fluency, clarity and extraordinary communicative powers – Mozart seems to have had them all. Little wonder he was hailed as the finest pianist of his generation – even rivals such as Clementi commented ‘I had never heard anyone play with so much spirit and grace...’

Of course we have no idea how Mozart the keyboard player sounded. We have the reviews and comments of those who heard him perform, and we have the instruments of his time.These do take us some way to understanding performance practice of the day, and the limitations of the instruments, and how composers of the late 18th century worked to test the instruments, and make greater demands upon the constantly evolving fortepiano. On this first complete cycle using instruments of the period, Bart van Oort relishes the timbral possibilities of five carefully restored and copied instruments to convey Mozart’s music as directly as possible without the necessary “translation” when playing a modern grand.This results in a great clarity of sound and structure.

OTHER INFORMATION:
• Includes booklet notes on the repertoire and an introduction by Bart van Oort which addresses the challenges and pleasures of playing Mozart on the keyboards of his time.
• Recordings made in 2000–2005.