The Viennese fortepiano of Anton Walter and its ilk -- agile, colorful, and bright -- has predominated among recordings of Classical-era music on the instruments for which it was written. But there was a competing group of manufacturers in London whose instruments sounded quite different, and in fact closer to the modern piano: loud, percussive, physical. The English pianos were of obvious significance in the careers of both Haydn and Beethoven, who were fascinated by them; Beethoven even had one shipped all the way across ...
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The Viennese fortepiano of Anton Walter and its ilk -- agile, colorful, and bright -- has predominated among recordings of Classical-era music on the instruments for which it was written. But there was a competing group of manufacturers in London whose instruments sounded quite different, and in fact closer to the modern piano: loud, percussive, physical. The English pianos were of obvious significance in the careers of both Haydn and Beethoven, who were fascinated by them; Beethoven even had one shipped all the way across the continent to Austria (which must have been quite an undertaking in those days). Veteran keyboardist Malcolm Bilson, one of the performers who began promoting the fortepiano in the first place, here takes up the cause of the English version, playing a contemporary replica of an instrument by the firm of Longman & Clementi. The music he chooses, from composers who were residents of London for a greater or lesser length of time, is ideal. The Piano Sonata in E flat major, Op. 44,...
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