The historical aspect is an essential consideration for anyone involved in classical music. It is music created in another context altogether and basic conditions, like the musicians’ skills and the sound of their instruments requires a good imagination (and a generous dash of research) in order to obtain a full picture. For those who want to imagine the 18th century Viennese music scene, Viviana Sofronitzky and the Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense have just released the complete works for fortepiano/harpsichord and orchestra on CD. Sofronitzky (yes, her father was the famous Russian pianist) plays on a copy of a Johann Andreas Stein fortepiano ca.1788, built by Paul McNulty.
http://earlypiano.de/Vertrieb/vertrieb.html
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