Franz Schubert: Sonata in A major, D. 664
Carl Czerny: Variations on a Theme by Rode, Op. 33 "La Ricordanza"
Robert Schumann: Papillons, Op. 2
Clara Schumann: Soirées musicales, Op. 6 - Notturno
Robert Schumann: Novelletten, Op. 21 - Sehr Lebhaft

When undertaking a HIP (Historically Informed Performance) recording project, it's highly important for the musician to research and study the musical customs and conventions of that region and era. In this case early 19th century Vienna. Canadian pianist Andrea Botticelli points out that she prepared for this recording by consulting original scores and period editions. But of even more critical importance is to choose a fine instrument from the time these composers were writing keyboard music, or at least an exact replica of such an instrument, which should at least reproduce as closely as possible the sound the composer had in mind. For example, I recently heard a new recording of the Chopin Nocturnes performed on an 1836 Pleyel with such a dry and anorexic sound, that the music's lush harmonic integrity went missing. But the 2014 Rodney Regier fortepiano you hear in this recording, which is a replica of a Viennese instrument built by Conrad Graf in the 1830s, suits perfectly the character and temperament of the music at hand.

For this her debut recording, Andrea Botticelli certainly picked a well curated group of pieces that not only represent the musical spirit of the time, but bring out the sonic qualities of this fortepiano as well. In particular, her highly expressive playing well captures and projects the range of impetuous emotions within young Schumann's Papillons, as well as the lyrical aspects within the slow movement of Schubert's Sonata in A major. The booklet notes inform that "she has received many awards and grants as an emerging artist from the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, and that she is a noted researcher on Beethoven and 19th century performance practices and instruments." It's refreshing to know that some of today's up-and-coming musicians are safeguarding yesterday's music and culture.