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Sonatas for four hands
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Sonatas for four hands

Marie & Veronica Kuijken

Label: Challenge Classics
Format: SACD
Barcode: 0608917236323
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Catalog number: CC 72363
Releasedate: 07-01-11
Marie and Veronika Kuijken play historical pianofortes for this recording of Mozart four-hand pieces. The instrument dictates, so to speak, what can and cannot be done. As its touch is much lighter than that of a modern piano, it is also much easier to gracefully play the virtuosic fast passages. The Kuijken sisters explore the limits of the pianoforte, both literally and regarding sound volume. A splendid, deeply musical and refined recording this has become!
  • The four-hand pieces on this CD explore the limits of the pianoforte, both literally and regarding sound volume
  • “For this recording we decided to play on two copies of a 1788 Johann Andreas Stein pianoforte made by the Belgian clavier builder Claude Kelekom." - Marie & Veronika Kuijken 
  • The Kuijken sisters have been brought up with the pianoforte and one can hear it is in their genes
  • The sisters are suberbly attuned to one another and form a beautiful unity
  • Marie and veronica are two daughters of the famous Sigiswald Kuijken

     
The four-hand repertoire was certainly not popular during the period that the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his slightly older sister Nannerl would be placed behind a clavier to entertain audiences with four-hand music. Mozart wrote five duet sonatas and several separate works for pianoforte four-hand. On this CD, the four-hand pieces are Mozart’s two last and most monumental sonatas. They explore the limits of the pianoforte, both literally and regarding sound volume. Mozart did not shy away from giving both players an independent and often complicated and technically demanding part.

Sonata in F, K. 497:Mozart’s way of exploiting the opportunities inherent in the four-hand repertoire was pioneering and led to impressive results. This sonata reminds one not only of his symphonic music and operas but also his sometimes highly virtuosic pieces and concertos for pianoforte.

Sonata in C K 521: Instead of the tight interweaving of the four hands of K 497, this sonata establishes a more competitive relationship between the two performers. Many are the passages where they
imitate each other (with deviations).

The Sonata in D K 448  similar to the K 521 sonata. Here, too, scores of virtuosic figures are passed back and forth by the performers.(Source: linernotes of the CD 'Sonatas for four hands'- Il Pulcini - Marie & Veronika Kuijken)