Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 35 in A major, K526 - download (MP3 & FLAC)

Ondine is pleased to release its first chamber music recording from violinist Christian Tetzlaff, featuring his long time pianist Lars Vogt.

The selection of these sonatas for piano and violin by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart demonstrate the composer’s genius and show a wide range of emotions.

Christian Tetzlaff is considered as one of the very best violinists in the world. His recording of the violin concertos by Mendelssohn and Schumann, released on Ondine in 2011 (ODE 1195-2) was greeted with considerable acclaim.

Lars Vogt was appointed the first ever “Pianist in Residence” by the Berlin Philharmonic in 2003/04 and enjoys a high profile as a soloist and chamber musician.

2013 will see a Schumann Sonata release by Tetzlaff and Vogt on Ondine.

Catherine Mackintosh and Geoffrey Govier formed Duo Amadè in order to perform the charming and intimate works for keyboard and violin by Mozart in concert, often with readings from his family letters. In 2006 Duo Amadè performed the whole cycle at the Royal College of Music. Catherine Mackintosh in particular has long been recognised as a pioneering early music spirit and in recording the complete cycle of duo sonatas is fulfilling the ambition of a lifetime.

The First Volume (CHAN0755) of Duo Sonatas was released in late 2008, being made an ‘Editor’s Choice’ by Gramophone in recognition of its musicality and ‘historically informed performance’. The Second Volume (CHAN0764) was a ‘Critics’ Choice’ in the December 2009 issue of the same magazine, Duncan Druce writing: ‘I’ve been enjoying the infectiously enthusiastic music-making on Duo Amadè’s second volume of Mozart sonatas. In these wonderful works, Geoffrey Govier and Catherine Mackintosh give the instrumental dialogue the wit and verve of a spirited operatic exchange.’

In this third collection of sonatas, featuring KV 376, KV 378, and KV 526, Duo Amadè once again offers performances of similar spirit and style.

Geoffrey Govier plays a fortepiano made by Christopher Clarke in Cluny, after an instrument by Anton Walter, while Catherine Mackintosh plays a violin by Giovanni Grancino, dating from 1703. These instruments bring a lightness and freshness of articulation to these delightful works, entirely in keeping with the spirit of enlightenment in which the sonatas were written.

Friederike Starkloff began studying the violin at the age of 5. She has competed in many national and international competitions and in 2009 gained second place at the International Lepold Mozart Competition in Augsberg, which brought this recording about.

Paul Badura Skoda, a legendary artist, really needs no introduction. He has recorded a vast repertoire and here collaborates with the young Austrian violinist, Thomas Albertus Irnberger. Both performers are playing period instruments in these recordings.