The Johann Schantz Fortepiano Richard Fuller & Karoline Pilcz

• Leopold Antonín Koželuch (1747 - 1818): Ariette italiane, Op. 31:
• 1Koželuch: Ariette italiane, Op. 31: I - Sento amor02:29
• 2Koželuch: Ariette italiane, Op. 31: II - Un serto di fiori01:25
• 3Koželuch: Ariette italiane, Op. 31: III - Spira pur, ma spira lento02:04
• Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809): Sonata for Fortepiano in E major, Hob. XVI:
• 4Haydn: Sonata for Fortepiano in E major, Hob. XVI:31 - I - Moderato07:23
• 5Haydn: Sonata for Fortepiano in E major, Hob. XVI:31 - II - Allegretto03:45
• 6Haydn: Sonata for Fortepiano in E major, Hob. XVI:31 - III - Finale. Presto02:55
• Leopold Antonín Koželuch: Cantata in honor of Marie Theresie Paradis:
• 7Koželuch: Cantata in honor of Marie Theresie Paradis: I - Recitativo. Andante – Aria. Adagio07:23
• 8Koželuch: Cantata in honor of Marie Theresie Paradis: II - Recitativo. Maestoso01:54
• 9Koželuch: Cantata in honor of Marie Theresie Paradis: III - Aria. Andante03:20
• 10Koželuch: Cantata in honor of Marie Theresie Paradis: IV - Recitativo. Adagio. Allegro. Andante03:07
• 11Koželuch: Cantata in honor of Marie Theresie Paradis: V - Aria. Allegro04:32
• Joseph Haydn: Sonata for Fortepiano in E-flat major, “Genzinger”, Hob. XVI:
• 12Haydn: Sonata for Fortepiano in E-flat major, “Genzinger”, Hob. XVI:49 - I - Allegro08:02
• 13Haydn: Sonata for Fortepiano in E-flat major, “Genzinger”, Hob. XVI:49 - II - Adagio cantabile08:43
• 14Haydn: Sonata for Fortepiano in E-flat major, “Genzinger”, Hob. XVI:49 - III - Tempo di Minuet04:12
• Total Runtime01:01:14

Info for The Johann Schantz Fortepiano

During his lifetime, Johann Schantz (1762-1828) was considered the most important and respected piano maker in Vienna alongsi-de Anton Walter and Nannette Streicher. His instruments were widely appreciated by musicians and composers, including explicitly by Haydn and Beethoven. One of his early fortepianos were integrated into the collection of old musical instruments at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna in 1939 from private ownership due to the fact that it could not be restored without considera-ble investment. There it was painstakingly restored in several phases and finally brought to its present, playable condition in 2009. On this recording, pianist Richard Fuller, renowned for his decades-long involvement with historical instruments, presents this fortepiano with the Sonatas for Fortepiano in E major, Hob. XVI:31 (1776) and E-flat major, Hob. XVI:49 (1790) by Joseph Haydn. The collaboration with the soprano Karoline Pilcz demonstrates that this instrument has unique sound characteristics not only as a solo instrument but also as an accompanying instrument. The Arette italiane, Op. 31 (1790) and the Cantata in Honor of Marie Theresie Paradis (1784) by Leopold Kozeluch also date from the time of the instrument's creation, as is characteristic of this KHM edition.

Richard Fuller, fortepiano (Johann Schantz)
Karoline Pilcz, soprano

Richard Fuller
In the three decades since arriving in Vienna - the city of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and countless other renowned musicians - Richard Fuller's artistic work has given decisive impulse to the fortepiano revival in Austria and Germany. Richard is among a select few who have sought to utilize exclusively the specific expressive possibilities of the fortepiano (Hammerklavier), evoking the sensitivity and delicate nuances of an earlier "Klavierkultur" and convincingly projecting them to the listener in a fusion of historical awareness and distinctive personal style.

The emphasis of Richard's work today is in both the music of the Viennese Classical period and that of the north German "Empfindsamkeit" (the sons of J.S. Bach, E.W. Wolf, F.W. Rust u.v.a) and their contemporaries. He is active as collaborative fortepianist in song recitals (Karoline Pilcz, Cornelia Horak) and numerous chamber/orchestral constellations including Musica Aeterna (SL), Capella Academica Wien (Leitung Eduard Melkus) and the Richard Fuller Fortepiano Trio.

Fuller's multi-faceted career as concert performer, recording artist, producer and music scholar is further documented in world premier recordings of the piano works of Ignaz Pleyel, piano quartets op. 40 of Johann Baptist Wanhal, and the complete sonatas of the "French Mozart" Hyacinthe Jadin (1776-1800).

Karoline Pilcz
The soprano KAROLINE PILCZ, who comes from Mödling near Vienna and has received musical training in piano, flute and classical ballet since early childhood, earned degrees from both the University of Vienna and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. She completed master classes with Wolf Matthias Friedrich, Peter Svensson, Helena Lazarska and Keti Tavardi. At the moment she is being coached vocally by Keti Tavardi and Nikolai Varionov.

Her repertoire includes the great opera arias by Mozart and the Italian composers of the 19th century. She has already performed successfully on stage as Pamina (The Magic Flute) and Madame Herz (The Drama Director). She has also performed as Euridice (Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice) and as Maria (Bernstein: West Side Story). Her roles include: Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Giulietta (I Capuleti e I Montecchi), Micaëla (Carmen), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Mimì (La Bohème) and Cho Cho San (Madame Butterfly). She also sings arias from operettas, all major secular and sacred concert works, sacred works such as oratorios, passions, cantatas and masses, as well as works from the Italian late Renaissance and early Baroque. She can also be heard singing Lieder. Cross-over projects, chanson programs and collaborations with composers in the field of new music round off her work as a singer. Tours and opera gala concerts have taken her beyond Austria's borders to Germany, Slovenia, Italy and in 2013/14 and 2018/19 as a soloist to China, where she performed at the Oriental Art Center in Shanghai with arias by Verdi and Puccini as well as samples of Austrian operetta.

Karoline Pilcz made her debut at the Vienna Musikverein in July 2013 with arias by Mozart. She also performed there again in the following years - with arias by Christoph Willibald Gluck. The concerts were broadcast on "Radio Stephansdom".

In 2020, the roles of Dido (Purcell: Dido & Aenas) and Marzelline (Beethoven: Fidelio) are on her agenda, as well as various aria and song recitals, concerts around the Beethoven year and the publication of a Beethoven songbook for singing students. Karoline Pilcz is also the artistic director of the Mödling Festival "Moving Beethoven".

She lives in Mödling near Vienna and speaks German, English, French and Italian.

Booklet for The Johann Schantz Fortepiano