Abstract

This paper attempts to answer the following question: can the modern piano of the Steinway era render the idioms of the Mozartian language, in all their complexity and diversity? Starting from the analysis of the differences between the instruments Mozart composed for and the modern pianos, the paper attempts and evaluation of the consequences of such differences on the main performance parameters, with special emphasis on dynamics, articulation and the use of the forte pedal. The thesis is defended that the knowledge of the expressive potential of the instruments for which a certain music was composed is equally important as the knowledge of the form or harmonic language of that music. This can facilitate the effort of translating the idioms of that music onto the modern piano, an instrument tailored to the acoustic conditions in which his music is played nowadays.

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