The piano was destined for success. It gave the musical world something it had wanted for centuries—a keyboard that could express a full range of musical and emotional ideas.
But its triumph didn’t happen overnight.
In this hour, music written for — and performed on — instruments that preceded the piano, as well as the first (and quite different sounding) pianos of Mozart and Beethoven.
RECORDINGS USED
| CD Title | Group/Artist | Catalog # | UPC |
| Beethoven – Bagatelles | Steven Osborne | Hyperion CDA67879 | 034571178790 |
| Instruments from the Russell Collection | John Kitchen | Delphian DCD 34001 | 801918340017 |
| Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Sonatas | Linda Nicholson | Phoenix Edition Phoenix 451 | 811691014517 |
| J.S. Bach: Orchestral Works & Concertos | La Petite Bande | Harmonia Mundi 886976838522 | 886976838522 |
| Handel: Water Music | English Concert, Trevor Pinnock | Archiv Produktion 410525 | 028941052520 |
| Bach: Harpsichord Concertos | Bob Van Asperen & Melante Amsterdam. | Warner Classics | 5099952200120 |
| Francois Couperin | Mitzi Meyerson | Glossa GCD 921802 | 8424562218024 |
| Mozart: Keyboard Works | Guy Penson | Brilliant Classics 99725 | 5028421997254 |
| Couperin, Mozart, etc. | Hilbrand Borkent | Attacca Babel 8843-1 | [Dutch CD: No barcode] |
| CPE Bach: Complete Keyboard Concertos, Vol. 7 | Miklos Spanyi | BIS BIS-CD-857 | 7318590008577 |
| Mozart - Piano Concertos Nos. 22 and 23 | Robert Levin, Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood | L'Oiseau-Lyre 452 052-2 | 028945205229 [out of print][available from Arkiv Music] |
| Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas Vol 4 | Ronald Brautigam | BIS BIS-CD-152 | 789368551521 |
| Beethoven - Piano Concertos | Steven Lubin (solo) | Decca 475 7297 | 028947572978 |
| Beethoven - The Piano Sonatas, Vol. IV | András Schiff | ECM New Series ECM 1944 | 028947658757 |
| Beethoven - The Five Piano Concertos, | Murray Perahia, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink | Sony S3K 44575 | 0886971029024 |
