Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K. 448/375a | Fantasie for Piano Four Hands in F Minor, D. 940 Piano Duo Scholtes and Janssens

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791): Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K. 448/375a:
• 1 Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K. 448/375a: I. Allegro con spirito 07:59
• 2 Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K. 448/375a: II. Andante 07:20
• 3 Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K. 448/375a: III. Allegro molto 06:39
• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828):
• 4 Fantasie for Piano Four Hands in F Minor, D. 940: Allegro molto moderato - Largo - Allegro vivace - Tempo I 17:05
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750):
• 5 Das alte Jahr vergangen ist, BWV 614 (Arr. by György Kurtág) 02:32
• 6 Nun komm’ der Heiden Heiland, BWV 599 (Arr. by György Kurtág) 01:40
• Total Runtime 43:15

Info zu Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K. 448/375a | Fantasie for Piano Four Hands in F Minor, D. 940

Scholtes & Janssens: We were just 18 and 19 years old when we first ventured to play Mozart's Sonata for two pianos. We'd only been playing together for a year at the time. Schubert's Fantasy in F followed shortly afterwards. Now, 17 years on, we're finally brave enough to record these two iconic works. Over recent years, these two works have taken on the role of critical teachers, sources of inspiration and motivation for us to keep on developing, as a duo certainly, but also and mainly as individual musicians. We've been challenged by legendary recordings made by the likes of Radu Lupu & Murray Perahia, Josef & Rosina Lhevinne, and father and son Neuhaus to discover our own sound, both in this music and elsewhere.

From the beginning seventeen years ago, we have been forced to face up to the fact that a good duo doesn't just happen when you put two good pianists together, and certainly not in Mozart or Schubert. Every note that's slightly misplaced, every chord that's not properly balanced can tarnish the performance. And every phrase when you don't breathe together. We gradually became more and more convinced that piano duo players have to be soloists, chamber musicians and an orchestra at the same time. As a duo, our aim is to have the freedom and virtuosity of a soloist, the ear and connectivity of a chamber musician and the tonal palette and nuanced subtlety of a symphony orchestra.

Piano Duo Scholtes & Janssens

Piano Duo Scholtes & Janssens
"If you listen to these two young people play music, you think that everything in the world will be all right" - Menachem Pressler, Beaux Arts Trio.

“They were absolutely fantastic! I was so impressed, what a phenomenal duo, bravo.” – Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

Lestari Scholtes (1984) and Gwylim Janssens (1985) formed their piano duo in 2003. They are acclaimed as one of the most valued piano duos of their generation, and leading piano duo from the Netherlands. Their 2009 Carnegie Hall debut was praised as ‘it could well have been 25 or 30 fingers, so big and well integrated was the sound. Terrific duo in top form'. In May 2012 Lestari & Gwylim returned to Carnegie Hall receiving great critics by audience and press. The American press about their performance of Stravinsky’s Petrushka: “Superb teamwork – two as one – with excellent, turn-on-a-dime transitions between episodes”.

Scholtes & Janssens performed extensively in over 30 countries, among which in many European countries, the USA, Netherlands Antilles, Dubai, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Chile, Bolivia, Mongolia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Brunei, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, China and Japan. Their performances have been broadcast by radio and television in multiple countries, among others Dutch Radio4, BBC3, Belgian Klara Radio and Israeli Kol Hamusica. Festivals include e.g. the Festival of Bath, TonLagen-Dresdner Festival der zeitgenössischen Musik, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, Braunlage Maikonzerte, Basilica Festival of Flanders, Klevische Klaviersommer, Almere Chamber Music Festival, Festival Classique The Hague, Tengiz Amirejibi International Music Festival and the International Piano Duo Festival Poland. The duo performed with many orchestras, including the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Residence Orchestra, Brabants Orchestra, Israel Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Rotterdam and re:orchestra.

The duo won national and international competitions for piano duo and chamber music, among others the prestigious Vriendenkrans Competition of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, IBLA Grand Prize, Concours Musical de France, the International Chamber Music Competition Almere, etc. and was acclaimed Talent of the Year 2010 by Dutch national Radio4. Lestari and Gwylim are jury members at several (inter)national competition. They gave master classes at conservatoires and music academies all over the world.

In 2013, the duo founded the Pianoduo Festival Amsterdam, one of the leading festivals in the world solely dedicated to the genre of piano duo. The festival, still run artistically and produced by the duo, takes place in the historic city center of Amsterdam. Since 2016, the duo hosts a second festival, the annual Kamermuziek Festival Schoorl (Schoorl Chamber Music Festival) in the north-west of The Netherlands.

As a duo they studied with the piano duo Sivan Silver & Gil Garburg at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hanover, Germany. As a soloist, Lestari studied with Jan Wijn at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Gwylim studied at the Codarts Conservatory in Rotterdam with Bart van de Roer. The duo met in the Young Talent Department of the Fontys Conservatory in Tilburg where they both studied under tutorage of Ton Demmers. Together they have taken many master classes with e.g. Nikolai Petrov, Alexander Tamir, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Victor Derevianko, Alon Goldstein, Peter Takács, Paul Lewis and Menahem Pressler. In November 2010 they released their debut CD with works by Rachmaninoff, Debussy and Ravel, under the label of QuattroLive. In May 2014 their second cd ‘Paris!’ was released at Etcetera Records, receiving great critics by press and audience. Their third cd is planned for release in the beginning 2021 with Challenge Records International.

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