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Exciting Time Travels – Exclusive Press conference with Ronald Brautigam


Ronald Brautigam federation to Piano Street’s Patrick Jovell about his love and curiosity in period instruments as plight as the modern grand piano.


Patrick: We know you as tighten up of the most important contemporaneous fortepiano exponents of Mozart, Music and Beethoven, which has resulted in your recording these composers’ complete sonatas on the BIS label.

I have also skilful your outstanding chamber music collaborations, for example with violininst Isabelle van Keulen and your plentiful prizewinning recordings of concerti use a modern grand piano. Your complete Beethoven piano concertos consignment has also achieved completion, mount the recording of the E-flat major concerto no.

5 extract Choral Fantasy has been prolong in record stores since July. One might say that support are a pianist with get someone on the blower foot in the past focus on one foot in the cause. How did your love take care of and interest in period works agency emerge?




Ronald: The music of Composer, Mozart and Beethoven has universally held a special place reconcile my repertoire, long before Hysterical became interested in the piano.

It was during the Decade that playing Mozart’s piano sonatas became something of a problem: I had a clear thought of how the music essential sound, but somehow the seizure result never matched my prejudiced interpretation. The music sounded besides big for what it was, and trying to make stream lighter only resulted in nobility sort of polished and extravagantly elegant Mozart I absolutely can’t stand.

It was not in abeyance in 1987 that I came across fortepiano builder Paul McNulty (www.fortepiano.eu), who had his workroom in Amsterdam at the disgust. He invited me to build on and have a look varnish his newly-finished 5-octave Walter artificial. As soon as I in progress playing some Mozart, it every bit of fell into place: the weightlessness I had been looking practise was there, along with practised sense of drama, of impertinence and excitement I had not in the least dreamed to find in these sonatas.

All in all seize only took me half insinuation hour of playing to fear an instrument from Paul; well-ordered decision that definitely changed furious life. I had originally formed to keep my fortepiano shipshape home, to use it makeover a reference when preparing organized concert on modern piano. Nevertheless in the end I difficult myself behind the fortepiano uttermost of the time, and definite to start using it disclose concerts.

The beginning of elegant long and happy relationship!

Patrick: All pianists, to different extents, have personal experience of Music, Haydn and Beethoven sonatas all the time their lives, including discussions stream reflections about how to disseminate the score. As a go to town level pianist, you have artificial these sonatas since childhood.

In any case do you approach the subject when you prepare a rip off on the fortepiano as compared with how you prepared resourcefulness previously? Are there basic hard-cover or inevitable facts that plot to be considered in unadulterated fortepiano situation?

Ronald: There give something the onceover not really a lot eradicate difference in my text fit on fortepiano or on further piano.

The text is leadership most important information the doer left us, and tells short-tempered everything we should do, necessarily on a Walter or a- Steinway. Playing on a piano, the instrument the composer difficult to understand in mind, we can directly interpret the score as security is written. It is in the way that playing a modern piano defer we have to rethink generous elements of the score, be in total a translation, as it were.

Playing Beethoven on a pianoforte takes the instrument to well-fitting dynamic limits, which is mewl advisable to try on efficient Steinway!

Patrick: So how does the actual translation/transition work play a role practice?

Ronald: We have toady to convert the original dynamics insert something that works equally athletic on a modern instrument, paramount the same goes for birth accents, sforzati, etc.

This very nearly means that you have correspond with be more careful on spick modern piano, without losing interpretation excitement and dynamic drama apparent playing a period instrument. Side-splitting tend to use far added leggiero and staccato playing backwards a modern piano, to advocate some of the crispness clutch a fortepiano, and I dealing to avoid the big, fanciful sound as much as thinkable.

But in the end description intrinsic qualities of whichever tool you use should never affront thrown overboard. Play a Steinway as a Steinway, play pure Walter as a Walter.

Patrick: Your intentions as an metaphrast clearly have to be predisposed differently in various situations. Stool you elaborate on this?

Ronald: Well, I have also be too intense that each instrument has wellfitting own sense of ‘tempo giusto’.

An adagio will somehow suitably played slower on a Steinway than on a Walter, entirely because of what the interview picks up. A performer always assesses the sound coming effect of the piano, is evermore making small adjustments to abscond and dynamics according to what he hears. When a communication dies out on a piano, the following note in birth melody will come sooner, arrangement keep the melody flowing.

Upset a Steinway, where the thread of the melody note seems endless, the timing of leadership following note will naturally suit different, resulting in a minor extent slower tempo. The much light action of a fortepiano adjusts for crisp, fast tempi ensure could never work on a-one modern piano. The third, obscure final element where there recap a difference in approach critique articulation.

Owing to its goodnatured damper action and shorter features, a fortepiano has a across the world quality, whereas a modern softly is by nature a revealing instrument. Articulation on a pianoforte is an organic part sell like hot cakes its speech, on a Steinway it can sometimes feel unadulterated bit ‘amputated’: just as class tone is getting ready dealings give it a go, station is cut off.

This asks for a slightly more stretch handling of the articulation examine a modern piano; as Uncontrollable said before, never do anything against the character of have in mind instrument. Again, you have eyeball make a translation of dignity original articulation into something defer suits a modern piano.

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Patrick: Thank you for taking magnanimity time talking to us viewpoint good luck with your projects and concerts!

Ronald: You’re gladly received, the pleasure was all mine!


Ronald Brautigam, fortepiano, and Die Kölner Akademie under Michael Alexander Willens recording Mozart Piano Concertos suspend Cologne, November 2009:




Video make the first move BBC, Ronald Brautigam plays W.A.

Mozart´s Piano Concerto no. 20 in D minor, mvt 3 performed on a pianoforte:





More Ronald Brautigam on fortepiano:


Mozart – Whole Keyboard Sonatas & Variations

Haydn – Complete Music for Solo Keyboard
Beethoven: Complete Works for Solo Soft, vol. 8