A reissue with the impact of a new release, that’s what we have in mind for this wonderful set of hailed recordings of Mozart’s Clavier-Concerte, recorded in 1990/91 on historical instruments and still sounding as fresh and beautiful as if we recorded them yesterday!

Anima Eterna Brugge is under the permanent musical direction of Jos van Immerseel, who has led the orchestra through a carefully guided evolution from small chamber ensemble to full symphony orchestra. In 1985 he brought six string players together to study the works of Bach, and two years later the group was enlarged to a baroque ensemble of seventeen musicians. In 1989 the by now twenty-five musicians began to work on the Viennese classical repertoire.The success was expanding and in 1990 the Amsterdam Concertgebouw included Anima Eterna Brugge in its “World famous Baroque Orchestras” series. Mozart’s complete concertos for fortepiano of Mozart formed the focal point of the next two years, with concert cycles in Kyoto and Tokyo, among other cities, and a set of 10 compact discs. These recordings received worldwide praise, of which it will suffice to quote the New York Times CD review: “No period orchestra has ever sounded better”.

Jos van Immerseel has built up an impressive collection of historical keyboard instruments. The collection is continually expanded and restored, making possible a new investigation of the keyboard repertoire through intensive study of the relationship between the compositions themselves and the instruments and techniques required for their interpretation. For this reason, the appropriate individual instrument always travels with him to each concert or recording location. This attitude can also be seen reflected in Jos van Immerseel’s work as a conductor, and that of Anima Eterna Brugge.

“In short: with every experience with this Walter/Clarke piano, surrounded by an orchestra in ‘Mozart disposition’, one’s respect for the composer increases. Respect for Mozart, not for a statue, a wunderkind, an ‘Amadeus’, a Mozarteum; respect for craftsmanship, intimate knowledge of instruments, respect for a composer’s imagination. Mozart knew exactly what he was doing.” – Jos van Immerseel