d60944 murders: Mozart - Fantasia No.3 in D minor K397 

Lovely music ❤️

Allow me to reflect on your description a little: you’re right about the Andante section intuitively - it should be played at the same pace as the Commendatore Scene from Don Giovanni (same breve Andante), which according to Tomaschek, Mozart conducted at an approximately half note = 50 pace. In the 18th century, Andante didn’t mean “slow”, it meant - as Anthony Newman explains - that all the stressed, as well as unstressed beats (in this case the quarter notes), are to be played equally. It was not until the mid 19th century that people began to play Andantes ponderously and assign slow metronome numbers to it. People tend to forget that musicians played much faster back then because of the lighter action of the instruments as well as the venues, which were primarily small salons. People also primarily played music prima vista so it was easier to hide mistakes that way. Mendelssohn was the last bastion of that tradition in the early 19th century as evident from his - to our modern ears - warp speed metronome numbers. He proclaimed that it’s always better to play music faster than intended than slower, which echoed an 18th-century sensibility - but I digress. Can I offer you some friendly advice? :) At the beginning: don’t be afraid to use pedals - fortepianos had them. Also, theorists like CPE Bach and Türk said that if there is a slur above a triad/arpeggiated accompaniment, hold them. It’s also true for Alberti basses, which you hold down the bass note of if there is a slur connecting the notes. Forget what your piano teacher said to you. Even though it might get you kicked out from a competition, I encourage you to decorate repeats. It might be my HIPster persona speaking for me, but still. One other thing: at 4:18, it’s most likely shorthand for four 8th notes.