question regarding Mazart's Mass in C minor, k 427

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I have listened to this mass multiple times via numerous conductors, but there seems to be one recognizable difference other then tempo that splits the performances into two sub catagories: pitch. Some of the performances have a distinctivly higher pitch while others maintain a lower one. My question is which pitch is period accurate; what was Mozarts intentions: did he mean for it to played in the higher or the lower pitch?

 

[lwd]

It's a bit of a minefield this one. The accepted pitch for the note A above middle C these days if 440Hz. The Berlin Phil were famous in the 60s and 70s for tuning even higher, maybe even 446Hz (and today probably 442Hz).

An 'authentic' period instrument orchestra performing Mozart's music today will generally tune to 430Hz and will sound noticeably lower. But the truth is in Mozart's day there wasn't a real accepted tuning which everybody used. It varied from town to town and country to country. No recordings to compare back then. It was probably around 430Hz on average, so as a purely practical thing, 430Hz has become the accepted 'authentic' norm today.

I hope that answers your question! The truth is the pitch won't make that much difference in itself and Mozart probably couldn't have cared less. Of course the 'lower tuned ones' will probably be taking the lighter 'authentic' approach and the higher pitched ones may be a little heavier.

 

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thank you for your help lwd, that answers all of my questions.