Piano Sonates K.282, K.540, K.333, K.570, Minuet K.355, Adagio K.540, Trauermarsch K.453a

Released in 1981 by Pro Arte, this recording features the renowned Dutch harpsichordist and conductor Gustav Leonhardt performing selected piano works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. By this stage in his career, Leonhardt was celebrated primarily for his pioneering work in the historically informed performance movement, focusing largely on Baroque repertoire. His decision to record Mozart on the piano represented a deliberate exploration of the transition from the harpsichord to the fortepiano, grounding the interpretation in the stylistic rigor and articulation he had mastered through years of studying 17th and 18th-century keyboard music.

The album serves as a distinctive bridge between eras, capturing Leonhardt’s lean, disciplined approach to the Classical canon. Critics of the time noted the intellectual clarity he brought to these sonatas, avoiding the romanticized, heavy pedaling often applied to Mozart by mid-20th-century pianists. While Leonhardt remained synonymous with the harpsichord throughout his life, this Pro Arte release stands as an essential document of his technical philosophy, demonstrating how his deep familiarity with the structural complexities of Bach and Couperin informed his nuanced, transparent, and structurally precise reading of Mozart's compositions.