Johann Ladislaus Dussek

Johann Ladislaus Dussek (1760-1812) was regarded by his contemporaries as one of the foremost keyboard performers and composers of his age. Over a span of three decades, Dussek completed nearly 300 compositions, most of which involve a keyboard instrument. The sonata as a genre holds a special position in his overall oeuvre: keyboard sonatas were among his first published pieces in the early 1780s, and the sonata Op. 77 in F minor was to be his last work before his death in 1812.This set is the result of an extensive recording project using the combined resources of eight excellent fortepianists to produce the first comprehensive recording of Dussek's keyboard sonatas on period instruments.

The Czech pianist Johann Ladislaus Dussek (1760-1812) had an extremely successful concertizing career throughout Europe and especially in England, where he stayed for ten years. Dussek is credited with being influential in extending the size of the early pianoforte, working closely with British piano-maker John Broadwood and playing one of Broadwood's first six-octave instruments. One has to wonder whether Dussek was aware how much the "future" of pianism belonged to him, and how thoroughly that "future" would forget his existence.