Elgin performance will go back in time with Mozart

Classical music aficionados will have a chance to hear what a piano concerto would have sounded like in Mozart's time during a June 28 chamber orchestra performance at Judson University in Elgin.

The performance, of three Mozart piano concertos, will feature a replica of an 18th century fortepiano loaned to Judson by the State Line Music Foundation of Freeport, Illinois.

It is a copy of a fortepiano by Austrian Anton Walter - the most famous piano maker of his time (1752-1822) - for which composers like Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven wrote their music.

"This is a rare opportunity, especially in Northwest Chicago" to hear an early keyboard instrument dating back to the Viennese classic musical era, said Sojung Lee Hong, associate music professor at Judson.

Invented by Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700, the fortepiano developed throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, she said.

"The fortepiano is the precursor of the modern piano," said Hong, who has been teaching piano, church music and music history at Judson for 17 years.

Unlike modern pianos that are made of steel frames, fortepianos are made of wooden frames and have leather-covered hammers, which produces a much lighter sound. The Viennese fortepiano has five octaves - compared to the modern piano which has a little more than seven octaves - and smaller registers with fewer keys, Hong said.

"You can hear much richer and diverse sound from the fortepiano," though much smaller in resonance than a modern piano, Hong said. "This fortepiano perfectly fits into Mozart pieces."

With only about 100 seats, Judson's Thulin Performance Hall will provide an ideal, intimate setting to experience the instrument, she added.

"I hope this historically-informed performance will be enjoyable to musicians and amateurs alike," she said.

On June 28, Hong will perform along with University of Illinois School of Music professor emeritus Kenneth Drake, who is loaning the fortepiano to Judson, and Jun-Hee Han, a graduate of the Chicago Conservatory of the Performing Arts and Indiana University, accompanied by 12 string players.

Drake, 84, president of the State Line Music Foundation who taught music for about 40 years, will offer his insight on piano music in the classic era during the event.

The concertos will begin at 3 p.m. in the performance hall at Judson's Thompson Center, 1151 N. State St. The program will include Mozart's concertos in B-flat major, K. 238, A major, K. 414, and C major, K. 415, performed by Hong, Drake and Han, respectively. Han will play the C major Concerto, conducting from the piano, as Mozart would have done. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and available at the door.