Four Hands

A moving legacy of Romanticism No other composer has written as much music for piano four hands as Franz Schubert. Masterworks such as the Fantasie in f minor or the Allegro Lebensstürme, swept up by wild emotions, unfold their full, moving power, especially when performed by exceptional musicians such as Bertrand Chamayou and Leif Ove Andsnes: the dream duo on their new Erato album "Schubert 4 Hands", which alongside the aforementioned key works contains two other four-hand compositions from the Austrian Romantic composer's final year of life (1797-1828): the Fuga in e minor, D. 952, and the Rondo in A major, D. 951. The Franco-Scandinavian pianist duo has a long history with his music. During a joint performance of the Fantasie in f minor at the Rosendal Chamber Music Festival in 2016, the Schubert spark ignited, after Leif Ove Andsnes had already been deeply impressed by Chamayou's Schubert album Wanderer from 2014. "Even before we met, I already felt very comfortable with Bertrand's way of making music and creating sound", says the Norwegian piano star, who like his French colleague had previously shared the same mentor, Jacques de Tiège, at the Antwerp Conservatory. This formative encounter made the later very successful pianist aware early on of the importance of sharing music and fully playing together with your partner. This is especially true for music as versatile as Franz Schubert's four-hand works. "It's as if we must become one", Bertrand Chamayou sums up the challenges of this heavenly beautiful repertoire.