Duos for Harp and Pianoforte

Many people who remember the rather conventional sonatinas by Dussek from their piano lessons will be surprised by this recording, for many unexpected and even light-hearted turns of phrase surface in these duets for harp and piano. Czech-born composer and pianist Dussek led a stormy and very romantic life, living and working all over Europe, from the courts of Marie Antoinette and Napoleon to the service of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia and later Talleyrand. He also lived in the age of the great development of the piano and the piano technique. The development of Dussek's music went hand in hand with the stormy development of instrument manufacture at that time (harp as well as piano) and it was Dussek who, for instance, convinced Broadwood to extend the range of the keyboard by an octave. His famous Duets for harp and piano, reminiscent of Rossini in their melodic beauty, are performed here on original instruments by musicians who need no further introduction, since they belong to the leading interpreters of our time!