Join acclaimed pianists, Petr Limonov and Zacharias Brandman as they perform classical works for two pianos beginning with Mozart’s absolute showpiece, the D major sonata, K. 448. Within the framework of its finely crafted classical structure is music of pure joy – graceful, songful, elegant, and virtuosic. This sonata, associated with the so-called, “Mozart Effect,” consists of three movements, the first of which opens like an operatic overture with timpani and trumpets. The second movement, Andante, is a single grand melody shared between the two pianos, and the sublime rondo finale resembles a piano concerto without orchestra.

Rachmaninov's Op.5 for two pianos is a sumptuous Fantasy Suite in four movements. A rich and expressive work full of the emotional power and virtuosic demands characteristic of the composer. Written in 1893, the work was dedicated to Tchaikovsky, one of Rachmaninoff's greatest inspirations and proponents. The first movement, Barcarolle, with its gently rocking rhythms set in a nocturnal landscape retains an introverted mood that describes a lost love as the passing of a Venetian gondola, while the second movement, La nuit…L’amour… (“The Night…the love”) moves deeper into the night as the song of a nightingale emerges in the opening bars. In the lamenting third movement, Les larmes, we hear the musical equivalent of flowing teardrops followed by expansive harmonic vistas which open up. The final movement, Pâques (“Easter”), erupts with the joyful celebration of a Russian Orthodox Easter morning as the mighty, clanging sound of Russian bells accompanies a Russian liturgical chant.