Julliard 415 @ Alice Tully Hall

Julliard 415 offers the Julliard students the opportunity to play with professional musicians, domestically & internationally.  I like to refer to Julliard 415 as a box of chocolates, "you never know what you're gonna get."  Although, you can bet it will be exciting, classic, modern & always a learning experience.  Last night was a revised program featuring fortepianist Christoph Hammer who graciously filled in for Kristian Bezuidenhout who bowed out on short notice.  Hammer is a highly acclaimed pianist, organist and Prof. of historic keyboards in Munich.  Prof. Hammer announced he was the 1st person to perform on the new fortepiano commissioned by Julliard.  Sitting in the packed auditorium was Mr.  R. J. Regier, the fortepiano instrument-maker.  Prof. Hammer played solo piano compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart & by his youngest child, Franz Xaver Mozart, born posthumously.   Franz Xzver a.k.a. W.A. Mozart, Jr., was an accomplished pianist, violinst & composer and was esteemed during his lifetime.  "Junior's" piano compositions followed in the romantic style of his father until later when he moved towards a more contemporary style of the early 19th C.  One of Junior's famous piano pieces had been credited to Liszt until very recently.  However, it is rare to find recordings of Mozart, Jr.'s work today (even I, a jaded New Yorker, was unaware of his work.)  Prof. Hammer informed the audience of the innovations to the keyboard, in particular, the hammer (really)  allowing the strings to be struck with nuance.  Until that time the harpsicord or keyboards were mono-tonal.  The meaning of the word paino, means soft and forte means loud.  This new method was very exciting to W. A. Mozart whose compositions became prolific during his short life.  This advancement did lead to the demise in popularity of the harpsicord.  The program included works by Schubert & Boccherini.  I reveled in the performances and felt I had been given a master class.