Concert Reviews

… The duo :nota bene: marks the Mozart jubilee year 2006 with a new CD. "There were two Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts", we learn from the booklet, which is worth reading for the clear, incisive and informative text by Ludwig Laher, author of the novel "Wolfgang Amadeus junior: Mozart Sohn sein".
A lively, sensitively rendered recording of Mozart's A major Sonata for piano and violin K526 is followed here with a rarity: the second violin sonata by the unknown though familiar 19th-century composer Franz Xaver Mozart. Here is music from the incipient Biedermeier period, meticulously worked, sensitive and melodious – no eclectic pasticcio, but a piece well worth listening to, showing the composer's search for an individual style in keeping with the period.
The two musicians perform with intelligence and verve. Eva Steinschaden combines a beautifully refined tone with delicate romantic cantilena style. Alexander Vavtar, an equal partner at the piano, adds many surprising touches.
(DrehPunktKultur – Salzburg's internet arts news/Austria, September 2006)

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