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I recently did some reading on the historical evolution of the piano. From my understanding, classical-era pianos did not have foot pedals. By classical-era I refer to the narrower meaning of Classical.
I had been playing classical music for years using pedals, especially the "loud" pedal. Do modern musicians playing classical music typically use foot pedals? Do the pedals completely bastardize the sound the composers intended?
To answer your question: "Do the pedals completely bastardize the sound the composers intended?" is not as much as playing on the wrong instrument does. :-)
The piano Mozart, Beethoven and their contemporaries would have played would have been a Fortepiano. The modern piano as we know it (named Pianoforte), came a bit later. he Fortepiano is a much quieter instrument. (Consider it this way: a pianoforte can be heard over a full Romantic period orchestra, a fortepiano really can not.) [There also existed an even quieter instrument, the clavichord. It was mostly used for practice and very small, intimate recitals.]
Both the pianoforte and fortepiano use the same basic concept of striking a string, instead of the picked string of the harpsichord, thus allowing for varied dynamic range. [The harpsichord basically has only one volume level for each key. Changes in the overall volume in a harpsichord piece were often done by layer the number of notes.]
Having said all that, the wonderful thing about music is that it is open to interpretation and reinvention. When I listen to music, I listen more to hear what the artist brings to the music than I do to how perfect a reproduction of exactly was was written on exactly the right instruments.
In the end, it's up to you to decide what sounds best in your interpretation.
Here is an awesome 10-minute instructional video on Classical-period piano playing from Matthew Bengtson. It covers the use of the sustain pedal and many other aspects. He is using an actual fortepiano of a similar model to the ones that Mozart and Beethoven used.
Classical-era pianos had pedals, or actually levers you would push up with your knees. Mozart undoubtedly used them. Beethoven wrote pedal instructions in the music.
Many pianists use the pedal when playing Bach on a modern piano. In for a penny, in for a pound I suppose.
Typically I don't use any pedal for older Baroque pieces, since they usually were written for the harpsichord.
Of course, it all depends on how you interpret the piece. Some pieces should sound as much like a harpsichord as possible, but others sound much better utilizing the modern pedals.
As far as "bastardizing" the sound, it all depends on how much you use them.
For example: the sustain pedal. I definetly wouldn't use it on pieces such as Bach's 'Inventions', but Telemann's 'Suite In A Major' sound good with some sustain added.
