Mozart’s Clavichord

How did Mozart hear his own music at home in Salzburg? This recording provides the answer, as it was made not only in the house in which he lived but also with the clavichord that he used to compose Die Zauberflöte, La clemenza di Tito and the Requiem. While its keyboard has the same five-octave range as the fortepianos that Mozart used for concerts, the clavichord’s weaker sound limited it to domestic use, to be heard by family members who happened to be present or collaborators. Baritone Georg Nigl and early keyboard specialist Alexander Gergelyfi have devised an intimate programme of arias, overtures, cantatas, Lieder, fantasias, rondos and even the poignant Lacrimosa from the Requiem. This unique album lets us enter Mozart’s own house in Salzburg, where we can sit next to an instrument he himself played and listen to two exceptional performers, both of whom are irrevocably smitten with the genius loci.

Georg Nigl – vocal baritone
Alexander Gergelyfi – harpsichord