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BERNARD BRAUCHLI THE FORTEPIANO |
Late 18th-century piano music performed on a copy of a
period instrument reveals an aspect of the music, be it Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn
or their contemporaries, which is masked by the many overtones of the modern
piano. The wooden frame, lighter hammers and less string tension allow the
instrument to sing with a clearer sound quality and consequently to reveal all
the subtleties of the melodic line. Such an instrument is what these composers
knew and had in mind when they wrote their keyboard works.
Bernard Brauchli’s fortepiano is copied after an
instrument built in the 1780’s in Vienna by Anton Walter (1752-1826) which
originally belonged to Mozart who in his later years is known to have favoured
the instruments of this maker. It was donated by his son Carl to the Mozarteum
in Salzburg in 1856. This particular instrument is ideally suited to works by
late 18th-century composers and to early Beethoven.
SAMPLE PROGRAMS
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Early Works for the Piano
Works by C. Ph. E. Bach, D. Cimarosa, B. Galuppi, J.
Haydn, W. A. Mozart
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W. A. Mozart and His
Contemporaries
Works by C. Ph. E. Bach, J. Haydn, Fr. Seydelmann, W.
A. Mozart
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The Intimacy of W. A. Mozart
Works by W. A. Mozart
John Lyon, copy of an fortepiano by Anton Walter (Vienna, circa 1780)
Brauchli
closed the sonata with intensity, the instrument responding more vividly than a
Steinway could. It was a performance of much colour, of striking power, of
pathos, but also of celebration; it was Mozart telling us through the keyboard
that there is sadness, but ultimately it will be vanquished in joy. Brauchli
had perhaps taken us to deeper levels of Mozart, and perhaps humanity, than de
Larrocha...Both provided engaging approaches to Mozart.
The Tech (Cambridge, U.S.A.), Jonathan Richmond
An oceanic
audience, a roaring applause, unbridled enthusiasm. Enthusiasm more than
justified by Bernard Brauchli’s extraordinary performance on a wing-shaped
fortepiano copied from an instrument by Anton Walter. Superb
interpretation.
