Mozart: Sonata for 2 pianos in D major, K448

This is the union of two ZZT artists for a disc that includes an original work (the Sonata in D major) and transcriptions for two pianos.

Recorded on two historic instruments from the collection of Edwin Beunk, this disc is an operatic and symphonic conversation. It is also the illustration of the highly fruitful collaboration of two singular pianists as well as a new recording with Yury Martynov, who earned a 'Choc' de Classica for his Beethoven-Liszt disc.

Brendel’s Mozart credentials are very much in evidence in these performances. The 17th concerto was highly acclaimed when it first appeared on the Vox label in the 1960s and it is arguable that his collaboration with Walter Klein in recording the concerto and sonata for two pianos has never been surpassed.

Sony Classical ORIGINALS offer listeners outstanding enjoyment, authentically recapturing the fascination of legendary recordings from the age of long-playing records and preserving worthwhile releases from two labels with particularly long and distinguished traditions: RCA Red Seal and Columbia Masterworks. These superb recordings by great artists have enjoyed international acclaim ever since they were first released. Showered with critical plaudits, they are part of the 20th century’s cultural legacy. All have been remastered and carefully restored using the latest studio technology in order to reproduce the original interpretations as faithfully as possible. The CD covers are taken over from the original LPs. The original introductions and LP labels are also reproduced in full, making Sony Classical ORIGINALS unique documents in the history of recorded sound.

Featuring original LP cover artwork in full size and reproduction of original labels in mini LP design.

Contains original liner notes in 3 languages (English, French and German) Jewel case packaging with fully coloured booklets.

The Sony Classical Originals bring together for the first time at the Mid Price the greatest recordings from across all of the labels which are part of the Sony Classical umbrella, and are a perfect starting point for any classical collector.

Mozart wrote five duet piano sonatas and several separate works for fourhands.

Of the latter, two of his sonatas - the one in F, KV 497 and the one in C, KV521 - are included on this disc. The other work is the great D Major Sonata for Two Pianos, KV448. The performers are the Kuijken sisters, Marie and Veronica.

Sisters Marie and Veronica belong to the highly talented Kuijken family from Belgium, the daughters of the renowned early music director and baroque violinist Sigiswald Kuijken. Marie is known primarily as a soprano, and often works together with her father as a soloist in his legendary ensemble La Petite Bande. She has been a soloist in the group’s critically acclaimed recordings of the Passions of J. S. Bach, and Monteverdi’s Vespers. She is also however an accomplished violinist and pianist and performs on the violin with La Petite Bande and the Ensemble Baroque du Léman. As a pianist she specialises in the Mozart repertoire, and has for some years performed his pieces for two pianos alongside her sister Veronica. Since 2003 Veronica Kuijken has been a teacher of baroque chant at the Centre de Musique Ancienne in Geneva. She also accompanies flute and chant on the piano at the Conservatory of Lausanne.

The Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K. 448 was composed in 1781 when Mozart was 25 years old, and is one of his only formal works of this kind. It is a three-movement work written in strict sonata form. The two Sonatas for Four Hands, KV 497 in F and KV 521, were written later and are two of his last major pieces for piano.

Since their début as a piano duo in 2008, the twins Christina and Michelle Naughton have proved little short of sensational in concert halls all round the world. They both studied at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia as well as with a number of distinguished teachers, including Claude Frank, Gary Graffman and Seymour Lipkin, granting them an insight into the most disparate musical styles that goes far beyond a mere sovereign command of their instrument. This stylistic and technical mastery is abundantly clear from their début album on the ORFEO label, in which the Naughton sisters demonstrate supreme flexibility in affording listeners a varied glimpse of the repertory for piano four hands and two pianos. Their programme spans almost two centuries in the history of music, extending, as it does, from Mozart’s D major Sonata K 448 to Lutoslawski’s 'Variations on a Theme by Paganini' – a theme taken up and explored by many other composers. The Naughton sisters invest this work with a joviality that effortlessly communicates itself to the listener. Indeed, the 20th- and 21st-century repertory in general is one of their central, self-evident concerns.

Brahms’s Haydn Variations is another well-known work that belongs to the same genre, its climaxes demanding a tonal splendour that seems positively orchestral in character and that the Naughton sisters can produce when necessary. By contrast, their performances of Mendelssohn’s Allegro brillant and Schubert’s A minor Allegro (“Lebensstürme”) are distinguished by cantabile playing of simple beauty and by scales and chords which dynamically and agogically are subtly attuned to each other’s instrumentalism. Two 20th-century classics prove infectiously exciting with their vivid dotted rhythms: the First Spanish Dance from Falla’s 'La vida breve' and Ravel’s 'La valse' in the version for two pianos prepared by the composer himself. Listeners who enjoy this recording, which was made in the broadcasting studio of Radio Bremen, can look forward to Christina and Michelle Naughton’s forthcoming recitals at the start of the 2012/13 season, including appearances at the Herkulessaal in Munich and the Philharmonie in Berlin.

Paul Badura-Skoda is one of the most important pianists of our time. On this CD, he performs with Jörg Demus. Many of his recordings have won international awards. The works are performed on period instruments.