Mozart: Adagio in C major, K356

"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

SFZ MUSIC are pleased to announce their latest release, a ground-breaking collaboration between two leading experts in historical performance: Jane Booth, one of the finest players of the chalameau and early clarinet, teams up with John Irving, Director of the Institute of Musical Research at the University of London, to present a programme of exceptional grace, beauty, and depth. Clarinets by Arrangement offers an unusual perspective on some familiar chamber works from the late 18th & early 19th centuries, along with some less familiar repertoire that is well worth discovering. Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet K589 and Beethoven’s Horn Sonata Op.17 are presented here in arrangements made around the turn of the 19th-century for clarinet, or basset horn and piano.

Underlying Clarinets by Arrangement is a belief – drawing on a range of contemporary documents including treatises, composers’ letters and contemporary reviews – that ‘the music is not the score’ and that a fundamental aspect of music from the later 18th-century is the sheer provisional quality of its musical texts: not so much the end of a compositional process as part of the ongoing journey to be continued by the performers.

Internationally-acclaimed harpist, Sandrine Chatron, playing the beautiful 18th century harp by Sébastien Érard, takes us on a musical journey that recreates the intimate atmosphere of a musical salon at the time of Marie-Antoinette.

In this third recording in the Cité de la Musique series, Sandrine Chatron plays the very rare and 18th-century harp by Sébastien Érard. The programme recreates the intimate atmosphere of a musical salon at the time of Queen Marie-Antoinette. It includes works by Gluck, Mozart and Gossec, as well as world premiere recordings of compositions by Dauvergne, Saint-George and Krumpholtz.

The music selected illustrates the diversity of repertory linked with the figure of Queen Marie-Antoinette, a music-lover, performer, inspiration, or patron of the arts. She helped several composers in their careers, including Gluck, her teacher, and Grétry, both of whom are found on this recording with other composers from the time of Marie-Antoinette.