Luca Guglielmi - Mozart's Maestri (2014)

Tracklist

01. Keyboard Concerto in D Major, K. 107/1: I. Allegro
02. Keyboard Concerto in D Major, K. 107/1: II. Andante
03. Keyboard Concerto in D Major, K. 107/1: III. Tempo di menuetto - Minore - Da capo tempo di menuetto
04. Keyboard Sonata in D Major, Op. 6, No. 2: I. Con brio
05. Keyboard Sonata in D Major, Op. 6, No. 2: II. Minuetto - Trio - Minuetto da capo
06. Keyboard Sonata in G Minor, Op. 6, No. 5: I. Allegro molto
07. Keyboard Sonata in G Minor, Op. 6, No. 5: II. Allegro
08. Keyboard Concerto in G Major, K. 107/2: I. Allegro
09. Keyboard Concerto in G Major, K. 107/2: II. Theme and Variations. Allegretto
10. Keyboard Sonata in E-Flat Major, Op. 6, No. 6: I. Andante
11. Keyboard Sonata in E-Flat Major, Op. 6, No. 6: II. Presto assai
12. Keyboard Sonata in E-Flat Major, Op. 6, No. 6: III. Allegro
13. Keyboard Sonata in F Minor, Op. 5, No. 5: I. Andante
14. Keyboard Sonata in F Minor, Op. 5, No. 5: II. Allegro
15. Keyboard Sonata in F Minor, Op. 5, No. 5: III. Presto - Minuetto - Presto da capo
16. Keyboard Concerto in E Major, K. 107/3: I. Allegro
17. Keyboard Concerto in E Major, K. 107/3: II. Allegretto

It was only on very rare occasions that the Mozarts, father and son, had praise to spare for their composing colleagues. Amongst the few about whom they spoke favourably were Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782) and the Italian Giovanni Marco Rutini (1723-1797). On this CD, the harpsichordist Luca Guglielmi and his ensemble Concerto Madrigalesco present works of both of these composers which bear eloquent witness to this appraisal.

Mozart expressed his admiration for Johann Christian Bach, whom he had met in London when still a child, in a letter of 1778 in which he wrote that he loved him with all my heart and I have high esteem for him. Together with his father, Mozart adapted Bach's Sonatas Op. 5, Nos. 2-4 as concerti with accompanying strings, interpreted by Luca Guglielmi on a replica of a Silbermann fortepiano. They are notable for their graceful, cantabile style, felt by the young Mozart to be particularly worthy of imitation.

Leopold Mozart was unusually generous in his praise of the then quite well-known Sonatas, Op. 5 of Rutini. Typical of these works is the varied treatment of textures and harmonies, as is the skilled use of contrasts – these, too, were elements that the young Mozart made his own. Guglielmi uses three different replicas of historical harpsichords for his recording of these sonatas.

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