This album is titled "Piano Discoveries" because it features works by three composers from the first half of the 19th century that are rarely heard in concert today.
Composition History
Ignaz Moscheles's Grande Sonate symphonique in B minor, Op. 112, took him at least four years to compose, starting in 1842 and published in 1846.
Composer Biography
Ignaz Moscheles, unlike Fröhlich and Schubert, enjoyed great success as a leading piano virtuoso and conductor, and was a close friend of Felix Mendelssohn.
Composer Biography
Friedrich Theodor Fröhlich, a Swiss composer, tragically ended his own life at the age of 33, suffering from the provincial constraints of his homeland.
Compositional Technique
Fröhlich's Three Fugues, Op. 12, dedicated to counterpoint master Antonín Reicha, utilize the dense polyphonic possibilities of piano four-hands, with themes that can radically change character.
Recording & Production
The piano duo Adrienne Soós and Ivo Haag, who are official Bösendorfer Artists, used a Bösendorfer 280VC grand piano for this recording.
Critical Reception
Despite his success during his lifetime, Ignaz Moscheles and his works, including this sonata, are largely forgotten today, partly because his traditional style and bourgeois life didn't fit the Romantic ideal.
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