ECM is releasing in a matter of weeks the first complete recording of Mozart’s complete piano sonatas played on the composer’s own fortepiano by American pianist Robert Levin.

This comprehensive, 7-CD boxed set also includes fragments of unfinished works by Mozart that were completed by Levin, a pianist whose flawless interpretation of this music is based on the performance practice of  Mozart’s time, which includes the obligatory embellishment of all repeats.

Levin also completed sections which Mozart never finished. All the sonatas in this recording are performed on Mozart’s own fortepiano, the keyboard instrument that predated the pianoforte that came into being years later, in the early 19^th century.

Mozart used the fortepiano extensively, an instrument whose construction makes for a uniquely delicate sound. Levin’s playing is first and foremost elegantly precise, avoiding any of the grandstanding antics that quite often mar the playing of Mozart’s music. The warm acoustics of the Salzburg concert hall in which this recording was made and its perfect engineering greatly the pleasure Robert Levin gives with his exquisite music making.

Rafael de Acha (c) 2022