Mozart: Sonatas for Piano Four Hands, K. 521 & 497

Featuring

Ferenc Rados
Kirill Gerstein
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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Performer Biography

Ferenc Rados, born in Budapest in 1934, is a singular personality and mentor to many prominent Hungarian musicians, including pianists Zoltán Kocsis, Deszö Ránki, and András Schiff.

Compositional Technique

Mozart revolutionized the piano duet genre, particularly with the F major Sonata on this album, elevating it beyond typical 'Hausmusik' (domestic music-making) to a symphonic scope and complexity.

Compositional Technique

Ferenc Rados believes that 17th and 18th-century music is more 'neurotic' and 'nervous' than Romantic music, characterized by shorter, more declamatory phrases or conjoined smaller elements.

Performer Biography

Kirill Gerstein considers Ferenc Rados the single most influential person in his musical life, having studied with him the longest after previous studies in Russia, Boston, New York City, and Madrid.

Interpretation

Ferenc Rados's approach to interpretation is based on foundational elements of musical substance, such as structural and metric stresses, harmonic relationships, and motivic declamations, rather than stylistic fashions.

Interpretation

Kirill Gerstein's experience with jazz and improvisation influenced the spontaneously added ornaments in the C major Sonata, where he played the primo (top part).

Interpretation

The piano duet genre requires an exceptional degree of mutual intimacy and a 'togetherness of attitude,' making it a unique and challenging form of chamber music.