Adalberto Maria Riva

Joseph Woelfl: Piano Music, Volume Two Adalberto Maria Riva

Joseph Woelfl (1773-1812), a friend of the Mozart family from childhood, was one of the best-known musicians of his day: he was regarded as a rival of Beethoven in Vienna and a worthy successor to Haydn in the musical life of London. His late-Classical piano music sits between Mozart, Haydn and Clementi and looks forward to Schubert and Mendelssohn. This firstever project to examine it in any detail hopes to rescue Woelfl's once starry reputation from the folds of history. The three sonatas which open this second volume are dedicated 'a Mr L. van Beethoven'.