Mozart: Variations (10) in G major on Gluck's 'Unser dummer Pöbel meint', K455

Daniel Barenboim was born in Buenos Aires in 1942 and received his first piano lessons at age five from his mother. Later, he studied under his father, who would remain his only piano teacher. He gave his first public concert when he was seven and in 1952, he moved with his parents to Israel. At the age of ten, Barenboim gave his international debut performance as a solo pianist in Vienna and Rome, followed by Paris (1955), London (1956) and New York (1957). He began his recording career in 1954 as a pianist. He signed exclusively to EMI in 1966 and in the space of a few years he recorded the Beethoven Piano Sonatas, the Beethoven Piano Concertos (with Otto Klemperer), the Brahms Piano Concertos (with Sir John Barbirolli), and all the Mozart piano concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra, directing from the keyboard. Ever since his conducting debut in 1967 in London with the New Philharmonia Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim has been in great demand with leading orchestras around the world. He made his debut as an opera conductor at the Edinburgh Festival in 1973 with Mozart’s Don Giovanni and in 1981 he conducted for the first time in Bayreuth, where he would conduct every summer until 1999. His career continues to flourish with even-increasing success and he is now one of the most respected and admired musicians in the world.

The first CD is devoted to Barenboim performing music by Mozart, beginning with the Piano Concerto No.23 in A (K488) with the English Chamber Orchestra directed from the keyboard by the young Barenboim soon after he began recording for EMI. Then we hear Barenboim in chamber music, in Mozart’s Piano Trio in G K564, recorded almost 40 years later, with the outstanding Danish violinist Nikolaj Znaider and the young Belarusian cellist Kyril Zlotnikov, whom Barenboim admires so much that he has loaned him the Peresson cello that had belonged to Barenboim’s wife, the late Jacqueline du Pré. Next comes Mozart’s set of Variations on ‘Les hommes pieusement’ by Gluck, and then Barenboim moves to the role of operatic conductor with the Mask Trio from Don Giovanni, recorded with the cast he conducted at the Edinburgh Festival in 1973. The CD concludes with the finale from Mozart’s famous ‘Jupiter’ Symphony in which Barenboim conducts the Orchestre de Paris, of which he was principal conductor from 1975 to 1989.

CD 2 presents Barenboim in a wide range of contrasting repertoire, illustrating his extreme versatility as both pianist and conductor. The programme begins with Beethoven’s ‘Choral Fantasy’ which Barenboim conducts from the keyboard – no mean feat since the work involves a full symphony orchestra, a chorus and six vocal soloists, as well as the piano! The two movements from Bizet’s charming Jeux d’enfants are a further reminder of Barenboim’s time with the Orchestre de Paris, and then the opening movement from Bartók’s powerful First Piano Concerto gives Barenboim the opportunity to demonstrate his keyboard virtuosity in music of the 20th century. Chopin’s Prelude No.4 in E minor is a brief glimpse of Barenboim’s understanding of the music of this Polish genius before we move to the romantic third movement of Brahms’s monumental Second Piano Concerto with Barenboim as an inspired soloist. The last two pieces put Barenboim back in the role of conductor, firstly in Fauré’s hauntingly beautiful Pavane recorded in Paris and then in Bruckner’s magnificent Te Deum with the forces of the New Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra and four distinguished vocal soloists.

Released for the first time in 2003 and 2005, this two-CD set combines two Mozart recordings in which Andreas Staier raises the questions of ornamentation and improvisation with a hefty dose of impishness in his interpretative options (as in ‘his' Rondo alla turca!).

Andreas Staier plays a fortepiano by Monika May, Marburg, 1986, after Anton Walter, Vienna, 1785.

Fortepiano phenomenon Kristian Bezuidenhout begins his multi-volume traversal of Mozart’s music for solo keyboard.

Volume 1 features an instrument by Derek Adlam modeled on an original by Gabriel Anton Walter of the type Mozart owned in Vienna. Kristian Bezuidenhout studied with Rebecca Penneys, Malcolm Bilson and Paul O’Dette. He first gained international recognition at the age of 21 after winning the prestigious first prize as well as the audience prize in the Bruges Fortepiano Competition (2001), a double honour, this being only the third time the former prize has been awarded in the history of the competition. Bezuidenhout is a frequent guest artist with the world’s leading ensembles and he now has a standing duo with the baroque violinist Petra Müllejans, artistic director of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra; their first CD, a disc of Mozart Violin Sonatas, was released on harmonia mundi USA in the Spring of 2009. Highlights of past seasons have included a complete cycle of the late Mozart Piano Concertos and the Beethoven Piano Concertos (Amsterdam Concertgebouw) with the Orchestra of the 18th Century under Frans Bruggen. Plans for the future include concerts with the Orchestre des Champs Elysées under Philippe Herreweghe; a Mendelssohn project with the Freiburger Baroque Orchestra and Gottfried von der Goltz; a tour with Les Arts Florissants; trio concerts with Viktoria Mullova & Pieter Wispelwey and more recordings for harmonia mundi.

Most often, when it comes to Mozart’s works for piano, one forgets that, like Chopin and Liszt, Mozart was a great piano virtuoso. In his lifetime, his fame is due to a large extend to his gift to interpret. Indeed, he wrote a certain number of cycles of variations which bring out both the talent of the composer and that of the performer.

Composed in Paris, the 11th sonata in A major K.331 begins with a slow movement.

The Minuet and its Trio seem very close to a theme by Gluck and the last famous movement Alla Turca: Allegretto which is known for the French as the Marche Turque comes from the overture of the Pélerins de La Mecque by Gluck.

The Six Variations in F major on “Salve tu Domine” are the notation of improvisations given by Mozart on the 23rd March, 1783, in front of Joseph II. On this very day, Mozart was improvising the Ten Variations on the “Pélerins de La Mecque” from an opera of the same by Gluck. However, Mozart finishes them one year later.

The Twelve Variations on an allegretto were finished on the 12th September, 1786.

Mozart’s variations for the piano stand between two brillant successes, over a century apart, the variations Goldberg by Johann Sebastian and the variations Diabelli by Beethoven.

”Evidence of fingers exceptionally vigorous, nimble and purposeful." BBC Music Magazine

“He plays with a light, sparkling touch and singing melodies, with tasteful and unexaggerated expression." Fanfare

For more than ten years Gottlieb Wallisch has captivated audiences from many of the world’s major concert platforms with his playing. Wallisch’s debut on Linn Records, ‘Mozart in Vienna’, features a selection of Mozart’s best-loved works, all composed in Vienna during one of the composer’s most fruitful periods: 1781-1791.

Wallisch expertly demonstrates Mozart’s quintessential style: his skill at improvisation (Fantasie KV 397), his humour (Variationen KV 455) and his more intimate, melancholic side (Rondo KV 511).

Two of Mozart’s finest sonatas are also included and they allow Gottlieb to display his deep understanding of the music of his fellow Austrian, as well as his impressive technical and interpretative skills.

The Viennese pianist has performed this repertoire internationally to great acclaim: “Wallisch proved himself to be an exceptional performer of Mozart” (Neue Ruhr Zeitung).

Recorded in St George’s, Bristol, which is regarded as one of the best chamber venues in Britain, Gottlieb gives a stylish and individual performance of some of Mozart’s finest piano works.

Born into a family of Viennese musicians, Gottlieb Wallisch is a competition prizewinner and a respected artist in the Viennese piano tradition.

Gottlieb Wallisch has performed with many leading orchestras including Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. He has performed at prestigious London venues Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Gottlieb participated in the international cycle "Rising Stars" and gave solo recitals in many European capitals as well as New York’s Carnegie Hall.

This CD features a newly discovered work by Mozart “Das Donnerwetter“ (KV 534a, The Thunderstorm). It receives its premiere recording on this release by pianist Siegbert Rampe and is coupled with the universally renowned “Alla Turca.” Siegbert Rampe performs on an original harpsichord from 1771 by Burkat Shudi, a Swissborn master builder of keyboard instruments.