The quest for authenticity could hardly be carried further than here, at least in respect of the instruments used. For Andras Schiff is billed as playing ''Mozart's fortepiano''. Yuuko Shiokawa ''Mozart's violin'' and Erich Hobarth a ''viola, believed to have been Mozart's'', it is only Miklos Perenyi who merely plays a ''cello''. The recording comes from Salzburg and these instruments from the official birthplace source, but the booklet fails to give any additional information, although H. C. Robbins Landon's essay (printed in four languages) is valuable.
The artists, with Schiff clearly in charge, offer well-judged tempos. But Schiff's (Mozart's) fortepiano has little singing tone and sustaining power, and though this may not worry everyone, I feel that he is not altogether at ease with it and tries too hard to impose his authority. Consequently, while the music's elements of storm and stress are well enough served, natural flow often eludes these players and one looks in vain for poise and repose in the slow movements. The finale of the G minor Quartet is too fussy to convince. Indeed, overall, the artists tend to make points too obviously.
The recording is clear and close, and well balanced. Collectors seeking these works and not objecting to modern instruments will be better served by the classic 1952 recording with Sir Clifford Curzon and the Amadeus Quartet. These are highly poised performances full of insight (the slow movements have been called ''Elysian'') and are coupled with the incomparable Dennis Brain in the Horn Quintet.'