Mozart: Fantasia in C minor, K396

In Volume 3 of his widely acclaimed traversal of Mozart’s music for solo keyboard, fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout plays a modern reproduction of an 1805 Viennese instrument by Anton Walter. The programme includes the well-loved Sonata in F major K. 332, alongside Mozart’s very last composition for piano, the Variations K. 613. Kristian Bezuidenhout was born in South Africa in 1979. He began his studies in Australia, completed them at the Eastman School of Music in the USA and now lives in London. He is a frequent guest artist with the Freiburger Barockorchester, the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Les Arts Florissants, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, The English Concert, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Collegium Vocale Gent, in many instances assuming the role of guest director.

We are delighted to present an eagerly awaited recital disc from Stephen Hough. This fascinating programme begins with some of Mozart’s most audacious and forward-looking piano works. Mozart’s Fantasia in C minor K475 is a wonderfully unfettered and uninhibited work, suffused with high drama and a sense of constantly shifting moods. The Piano Sonata in B flat major K333 is a similarly ground-breaking piece, developing in scale and drama from its lyrical, gentle opening.

The second part of the disc features Mozart as seen by others, from the homage of a near-contemporary right up to the modern day, with Hough’s own irresistibly quirky Mozart imaginings, and from elegant miniatures to Liszt/Busoni’s virtuosic Figaro Fantasy. This disc is full of surprises, and demonstrates the full range of Hough’s extraordinary artistry.

"2006 will surely be full of celebratory concerts and recordings dedicated to a man born 250 years ago… The recital on this disc includes Mozart's structurally more 'free' music for piano: Rondos, Fantasies, and Preludes. He inherited these forms from Johann Sebastian Bach and, perhaps more importantly, through his sons Carl Philipp and Johann Christian.

The brooding opening of the great Fantasie in D minor, K397, gives way to a more light-hearted air. This piece has acquired a nineteenth-century editorial ending with no Mozartian provenance - the manuscript is incomplete. I offer an

'egarrtorial' option for the close of this little gem. Mozart originally intended the Fantasie in C minor, K396, to include a part for violin. Too little of this survives to make an adequate reconstruction. However, Abbé Maximilian Stadler (a close friend of Mozart, and a fine and interesting musician in his own right) made an admirable completion of this work for piano solo.

Although the second part gives way to fantasy of perhaps a more Schubertian nature, it is an extremely fine working of Mozart's material. The more structured pieces on the disc - the Rondos, Adagios, Marches, Minuett, and Gigue - demonstrate no less imagination and depth of character.

I end the programme with the Adagio in C major, K356, originally written for the Glass harmonika. I believe that using a fine original early piano can help us discover a multitude of colours in his music and bring us into Mozart's sound-world. I am very thankful he is still in our world at 250. Happy birthday!" Richard Egarr

Gottlieb Wallisch, who has captivated audiences from many of the world’s major concert platforms, impressed the critics with his superb interpretations of Mozart’s Viennese repertoire.

This, his second solo album on Linn, further explores Mozart’s rich piano repertoire of works associated with Paris and Vienna, many of which raised the standard for technical virtuosity.

Gottlieb displays a profound understanding of the music of his fellow Austrian, as well as his impressive technical and interpretative skills.

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 the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony, the Stuttgart Chamber and the Zagreb Philharmonic.

Gottlieb participated in the international cycle "Rising Stars" and gave solo recitals in Musikverein Vienna, Konzerthus-Stockholm, Societé Philharmonique in Brussels, the Athens Concert Hall and the Carnegie Hall, New York. Numerous concert tours have also led him to Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain, Germany and Switzerland.

The Austrian ORF, Radio France International and BBC London have recorded numerous radio and television performances with him.

Yakov Flier auditioned for the Moscow Conservatory at the age of only eleven and in later years, taught there himself. At the height of his performing career, he developed problems with a finger on his right hand, which became paralised. He recovered and in 1959, returned as a concert pianist. In 1966 he was awarded the title of People’s Artist of the USSR.

At the age of ten Zhu Xiao-Mei entered the Peking Conservatory where her brilliant studies were interrupted by the years of the Cultural Revolution. She was sent to a re-education camp on the border of Inner Mongolia for five years. On returning to Peking, she completed her studies and left China as soon as the regime gave its first signs of opening to the outside world. In 1980 she emigrated to the United States, settling in Paris in 1984. Zhu Ziao-Mei gives few concerts, appearing in public usually to perform demanding works: ‘mountains of the soul’.

Paul Badura-Skoda is one of the most important pianists of our time. On this CD, he performs with Jörg Demus. Many of his recordings have won international awards. The works are performed on period instruments.

Edwin Fischer chose only pieces by Bach, Beethoven and Mozart for his piano-roll recordings. The Sonatas Op.10 No.3 and Op.110 by Beethoven were distributed over several rolls but are brought together on this CD and created anew as coherent structures.

“Rampe’s historically informed approach, his complementary embellishments in the style of the period and improvised ornamentations in the repetitions, and the employment of instruments from Mozart’s time lend this recording its special appeal – and the overall sound impression is also convincing“ (Pforzheimer Zeitung).