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Here is a happy meeting of excellent musician and instrument. You will never hear a fortepiano sound so voluptuous, and Brautigam has a very wide tonal palette. Clearly his instrument is a godsend or his equally fine touch would be wasted. I've heard Brautigam play on less responsive instruments and much is lost.
Complete sets of any composer don't tend to inspire pianists, but Brautigam's Mozart cycle is fresher than any other I've heard. I don't hesitate to recommend it over the popular Uchida and Eschenbach sets.
I own at least two complete recordings of these sonatas on modern pianos and numerous recording of individual sonatas on both modern and period instruments; moreover I was fortunate enough to hear a complete traversal of them in live performance during the 2006 Mozart birthday year. In short, I thought I knew these works pretty well, but Brautigam's performances have been a revelation: they are crisp & clear and reveal details I'd never heard before; there is grace and beauty here that could move one to tears. Musically and sonically (hats off to BIS!) this is a stunning set - to be returned to often. This, surely, is Mozart as Mozart would have wished to hear it.
(from Amazon)
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