During his lifetime, Johann Schantz (1762–1828) was considered the most important and respected piano maker in Vienna alongside Anton Walter and Nannette Streicher. His instruments were widely appreciated by musicians and composers, including explicitly by Haydn and Beethoven. One of his early fortepianos were integrated into the collection of old musical instruments at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna in 1939 from private ownership due to the fact that it could not be restored without considerable investment. There it was painstakingly restored in several phases and finally brought to its present, playable condition in 2009.

On this recording, pianist Richard Fuller, renowned for his decades-long involvement with historical instruments, presents this fortepiano with the Sonatas for Fortepiano in E major, Hob. XVI:31 (1776) and E flat major, Hob. XVI:49 (1790) by Joseph Haydn.

The collaboration with the soprano Karoline Pilcz demonstrates that this instrument has unique sound characteristics not only as a solo instrument but also as an accompanying instrument. The Ariette italiane, op.31 (1790) and the Cantata in Honour of Marie Theresie Paradis (1784) by Leopold Koželuch also date from the time of the instrument’s creation, as is characteristic of this KHM edition.