Mozart on Viennese guitars

The guitar scene is a peculiar one. In the "parallel universe" of music history, there is much by Johann Sebastian Bach, but also many minor masters who certainly played well, but could not always compose well. Raoul Morat from Lucerne and his Danish duo partner Christian Fergo are aware of this problem, and they respond to it in a very clever way with arrangements by the great masters. After Franz Schubert, they have now taken on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They transcribed the four piano sonatas nos. 4, 5, 10 and 11 for their "Viennese guitars" with nine strings each, which were common in the mid-19th century. - And the result is something special.

Mozart comes across very finely. The ornaments sound wonderful and the runs - which rightly frighten many a pianist - are completely effortless. It even seems as if the piano sonatas in the duo have a little more dynamism and vitality than on the solo piano. It simply sounds natural and like a beautifully straightforward musical flow. This is also helped by the fact that the two of them hold back with guitaristic mannerisms. They only rarely use harmonics, only very subtly coloring the sound with their right plucking hand without playing too close to the bridge. In short: it sounds refreshingly "unguitaristic".

Mozart connoisseurs might frown at such an arrangement, the guitarists write in their successful booklet text. But they have good arguments ready. After all, the Steinway is at least as far removed from 18th century keyboard instruments as it is from Viennese guitars. They are right! After listening to this CD, you won't want to hear Mozart on the concert grand any more.