Piano Concertos No. 20 KV 466 & No. 21 KV 467

Mozart: Piano Concertos No 20 & 21 / Arthur Schoonderwoerd, Cristofori, Mozart / Schoonderwoerd, Release Date: 02/28/2012, Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Performer: Arthur Schoonderwoerd, Conductor: Arthur Schoonderwoerd, Orchestra/Ensemble: Cristofori, Number of Discs: 1. The present recording of the Piano Concertos KV 466 & 467 is the starting point for the complete collection of Mozart piano concertos to be issued by the label Accent. Arthur Schoonderwoerd, in great demand as a hammerklavier performer, and his ensemble Cristofori play on authentic instruments of the period or modern reproductions. The string parts in the orchestral accompaniment are played by only one musician per part, producing a slender, transparent tone which supports the hammerklavier without ever dominating it's fine tone. The fortepiano is a copy of an instrument made by Anton Walter (Vienna, ca. 1782) with a silvery tone more reminiscent of a harpsichord, but with extensively greater dynamic possibilities. This tonal spectrum is most apparent in the cadenzas which are improvised by Arthur Schoonderwoerd as was customary in Mozart's time. The two piano concertos are highly contrasting in character despite being composed within four weeks of each other during the spring of 1785. KV 467 is a virtuoso and largely buoyant bravura work, whereas the somber and dramatic atmosphere of KV 466 is stylistically far beyond it's time. In his extensive accompanying essay, Arthur Schoonderwoerd establishes a fascinating correlation between this work and Mozart's biography: the three movements of the D minor concerto are depicted as the detailed musical representation of the Freemasons' initiation rites for the apprentice or journey man and the master.