Although he may have preceded, met (several times), and certainly influenced Mozart, composed about thirty operas and was a real success in his time, the Czech composer and violinist Josef Myslivecek (1737-1781) has only recently been revived as a prominent musician. His work for keyboard (harpsichord or pianoforte) still arouses so little interest that it was necessary, for this disc, to create new editions of the two concertos, returning to the handwritten sources. The music is, however, of good quality, although the repertoire is limited, and we are pleased to have this style preserved, for the first time, in its entirety, in a more than impeccable realisation.
As the principal artisan of this rediscovery, British pianist Clare Hammond has chosen her accomplices, finding in the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Nicholas McGegan the right partners for a brilliant, expressive and dynamic rendering of the concertos. The soloist's playing is fluid, her touch secure and delicate. In the solo pieces, on a Steinway D which never makes one regret either the harpsichord or the pianoforte, she executes the Six Easy Divertimenti with grace, miniatures of a deceptive and formidable simplicity, and gives quasi-orchestral resonances to some of the Six Easy Lessons.
Sophie Bourdais