Nataša Veljkovíc - Jan L. Dussek & Joseph Wölfl: Piano Sonatas (2023) [Official Digital Download 24/48]

Keyboard duels have had a long tradition, giving rise to many anecdotes and legends. As early as 1709, Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757) and George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) had an organ and harpsichord contest at the house of Cardinal Ottoboni in Rome. It ended in a draw. More than eighty years later, around Christmas 1781, Emperor Joseph II invited Muzio Clementi (1752–1832) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91) to a musical duel in Vienna. Officially, the outcome was undecided, but secretly Mozart was considered the winner. Clementi praised Mozart in the highest terms, while the latter attested that his adversary had “not an ounce of feeling or taste”. Still, the theme of the Clementi’s Sonata (in B-flat major op. 24/2) stayed with Mozart for so long that ten years later he borrowed it for the overture to The Magic Flute.

The duel between Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) and Joseph Woelfl brings us closer to the actual subject of this CD. Woelfl (the spelling Wölfl also exists), born on Christmas Eve 1773 in Salzburg, received his musical education from Leopold Mozart (1719–1787) and Michael Haydn (1737–1806) and had established himself in Vienna as a composer for Emanuel Schikaneder’s Vorstadt-Theater auf der Wieden starting in 1795. But Woelfl had also made a name for himself as a virtuoso. In a newspaper report from the beginning of 1799, Woelfl is said to have made “the best impression” as a pianist next to Beethoven. At about the same time, the aforementioned competition between these two piano stars must have taken place in the house of Baron Raymund Wetzlar von Plankenstern and was proba- bly spread over several dates.

Tracklist:
01. Piano Sonata "Le retour à Paris or Plus ultra C. 221" in A Flat Major: Allegro non troppo ed espressivo
02. Piano Sonata "Le retour à Paris or Plus ultra C. 221" in A Flat Major: Molto adagio con anima ed espressione
03. Piano Sonata "Le retour à Paris or Plus ultra C. 221" in A Flat Major: Tempo di Minuetto. Scherzo quasi Allegro
04. Piano Sonata "Le retour à Paris or Plus ultra C. 221" in A Flat Major: Finale. Scherzo. Allegro con spirito
05. Piano Sonata op. 50 "Le diable à quatre" in E Major: Allegro moderato
06. Piano Sonata op. 50 "Le diable à quatre" in E Major: Andante un poco allegretto
07. Piano Sonata op. 50 "Le diable à quatre" in E Major: Finale. Allegretto
08. Piano Sonata op. 41 "Non plus ultra" in F Major: Adagio. Allegro moderato
09. Piano Sonata op. 41 "Non plus ultra" in F Major: Andante
10. Piano Sonata op. 41 "Non plus ultra" in F Major: Allegretto


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