For more than 25 years, Sebastian Knauer has thrilled concert audiences with his varied repertoire, consummate virtuosity and consistently innovative programmes. His well-judged choices and the subtle balance of the couplings for new CD recordings have given him the reputation of a connoisseur par excellence. He has forged special links of musical partnership and friendship with such artists as Daniel Hope and Sir Roger Norrington.
The albums “Bach & Sons” and “Vienna 1789”, both with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra under Sir Roger Norrington, demonstrate Knauer’s knack of excelling equally across the ages in Baroque works and in the Classical music of the 18th century. An all-Mendelssohn CD, the recording of Franz Schubert’s works with the Resonanz ensemble and his interpretations of Chopin are further assets in Sebastian Knauer’s broad-based portfolio at Berlin Classics.
The present “Portrait” CD shows Sebastian Knauer displaying his mastery of this wide range in a series of memorable performances. The great keyboard concertos of Bach (No. 1, 3rd movement), Mozart (No. 27, 2nd movement) and Beethoven (No. 2, 3rd movement) form the musical core of this exceptional CD. They are complemented by pieces that admirably show off Knauer’s virtuosity and versatility as he takes his listeners with him into the Romantic era: Schubert’s Impromptus (B flat major, No. 3 & F minor, No. 4), Chopin’s Scherzo No. 3 and two pieces by Felix Mendelssohn.
