Mozart : Piano Variations

- Mozart's Piano Variations are among the most beloved works in his whole output and this is one of the very few recordings where they can be heard on an original Fortepiaoo, in this case a beautiful instrument built by Paul McNulty after an instrument by Anton Walter from around 1785, an instrument such as Mozart himself owned and for which he wrote these magniticent works. It is Ronald Brautigam's own instrument which he now has played for several years in public at concerts which invariably resulted in outstanding reviews.

- These pieces show Mozart as the grand master of the variation form which was so dear to him also because of his delight in improvisation.

- So far, Ronald Brautigam's recordings for GLOBE have been on a modern grand piano and his CDs with the complete Sonatas by Robert Schumann (GLO 5031, Vol. 1) and GLO 5062 (Vol. 2) have received outstanding international reviews. Heuwell Tircuit in his review in "Fanfare", for instance, called Brautigam "every inch the serious, major star-pianist. This is his first recording on a Fortepiano, with more to follow (Beethoven Variations among them).

Ronald Brautigam was born in Amsterdam in 1954. He studied at the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatory, the Royal Academy of Music in London and with Rudolf Serkin in the USA. He appeared in England, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia and Switzerland. In April 1984 he made his London debut with the London Sinfonietta conducted by Simon Rattle, playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in the Royal Albert Hall during the Prom Concerts. In October 1984 he made his equally successful debut in the USA with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, playing Mozart's Piano Concerto in A Major, K 488. In 1988 he played for the first time in Japan, with orchestras in Osaka, Sapporo and Nagoya. He made several recordings for Philips, CBS and Etcetera for which he acquired the coveted Edison Award. Decca has contracted him for a series of recordings with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly. With the same orchestra, and Frans Brüggen as conductor, he played Mozart in Salzburg in December 1991. Ronald Brautigam is Professor of piano at the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatory.

- As always an extensive booklet with lots of information about the works is included with this CD with its playing time of over 77 minutes!