Nearly 80 years after the invention of the fortepiano, the harpsichord was by no means relegated to antique status. On the contrary, the two instruments cohabited throughout the 18th century, to the point where several makers strove to combine them into a single entity. The most incredible of these 'mutants' is the extravagant Vis-à-vis built by Johann Andreas Stein in 1777: at one end there is a three-manual harpsichord, at the other a fortepiano with 'moderator' stop. Only two specimens of this instrument still exist today. With its extraordinarily wide range of timbres and dynamics, it enables Andreas Staier and Christine Schornsheim to rethink our conception of Mozart's works for piano duet.

Preludes of the kind Mozart wrote as Kdeest, K624 (626a) and K284a served thoroughly prosaic purposes. They were used to check the condition of an instrument or, in concert, to introduce a fully worked-out composition such as a sonata. Mozart probably wrote all three modulatory preludes at the same time, in 1777, as study material for his sister Maria Anna.

The keyboard sonatas for four hands K381 (early 1772) and K358 (1773/74) were written for performance by Mozart and his sister in the family circle or in public concerts; the composer later used them as teaching material. The origins of the Variations on a theme by Giovanni Paisiello K398 go back to an improvisation by Mozart at a concert in the Vienna Burgtheater organised under his own auspices, on 23 March 1783. The brilliant style of the work catches the character of public extemporisation so precisely as almost to constitute a textbook example, while its high technical demands on the player give us some idea of Mozart's abilities as a pianist.

Among Mozart's most effective keyboard works are the Six German Dances K509, which also exist in a version for orchestra dated 6 February 1787 that was obviously written after the keyboard score. The charm and wit of these dances clearly reflects their probable intended use at social functions during the Carnival season. In order to heighten their effect still further (and to do justice to the possibilities of the unique Stein fortepiano), Christine Schornsheim and Andreas Staier have made their own arrangement of this captivating set of dances, drawing principally on Mozart's orchestral version.

Christine Schornsheim studied with Gustav Leonhardt, Ton Koopman and Johann Sonnleitner. She is now
invited to appear as harpsichordist or fortepianist at festivals in the major cultural centres of Germany and
Europe, as well as Israel, Japan and the United States.

 

Disc includes Improvisations by Christine Schornsheim & Andreas Staier
(Keyboard: Stein-vis-à-vis 1777)