Mozart: Sonata for Piano duet in D major, K381

"One half expects Andreas Staier and Christine Schornsheim to burst out laughing at the end of their flamboyant performances of Mozart’s B flat and D major sonatas. For all the whirling giddiness of these, and the crazy-mirror curves of the chromatic Preludes, the most impressive aspect of this recording is its ability to move the listener with subtle shifts of dynamics and tone. Superb. - Anna Picard, The Independent on Sunday, 11th March 07

“I don’t expect to hear better four-hand Mozart this side of the crematorium” Gramophone

These classic recordings, originally released on LPs by Musical Heritage Society, and brought to CD for the first time, bring together two of the leading Mozart pianists of their generation–Nadia Reisenberg and Artur Balsam. Reisenberg was born in Russia, studying there with Leonid Nicolaieff (the teacher of Shostakovich, among many other leading Russian pianists). In the USA, Ms. Reisenberg studied with the legendary Josef Hoffman, at the Curtis Institute. Among Ms. Reisenberg's outstanding achievements, was the performance of all 27 Piano Concertos of Mozart. Ms. Reisenberg taught at Curtis, NYU, USC, and the Jerusalem Academy. Artur Balsam was born in Poland, and won the First Prize in the Berlin Competition of 1930, and the Mendelssohn Prize in Berlin in 1931. Balsam recorded hundreds of works of both the solo and chamber repertoire, including all of Mozart's solo music, and recorded Sonatas with Nathan Milstein, Zino Francescatti, Joseph Fuchs and Zara Nelsova, among many others.

"These discs, devoted to Mozart's four-hand piano music, cover his creative output from child prodigy to mature master. The early C-major Sonato, K 19d, was written by the prodigious eight-year-old during a long sojourn in London. "The mature master is revealed in the 1786 Andante & Variations, written when Mozart was 30. Four years earlier Mozart was introduced to fugues of Bach and Handel and began to experiment with the form. The G-minor Fugue is one of the fruits of his contrapuntal experiments. "The Sonata in C, K 521, was completed on May 24, 1787, a day after his father Leopold, a dominant force for much of his life, died. It is clearly the work of an accomplished master. The F-minor Fantasy was composed in 1791 for the so-called mechanical organ and later arranged by Mozart for piano duet. It bears the distinctive style of late Mozart. "House pianist Jeno Jando, one of the finest around, is no stranger to Mozart, having recorded most of the composer's piano concertos for the label. He is joined by compatriot Zsuzsa Kollar in lively and stylish readings. Excellent sound." - American Record Guide (Allen Linkowski), September-October, 2000