Geister Duo

David Salmon & Manuel Vieillard, piano

Wolfgang Amadé Mozart
Sonata in C major, KV 521
Franz Schubert
Allegro in A minor, D 947 "Lebensstürme"
***
Wolfgang Amadé Mozart
Sonata in F major, KV 497
Franz Schubert
Fantasy in F minor, D 940

According to Leopold's account, Mozart invented the four-hand sonata as a child prodigy - first playing with his sister Nannerl, later with his Viennese pupils. KV 497 and KV 521 date from his happiest and most productive years, the period between Figaro and Don Giovanni. They are paired here with two works from Schubert's final creative phase: the celebrated Fantasy in F minor and the Allegro in A minor - a monumental sonata movement for piano four hands, to which the publisher later attached the dramatic title "Lebensstürme" (Storms of Life).

David Salmon and Manuel Vieillard met as students in Paris and have performed together as a permanent duo ever since. Their name reflects a shared passion for German Romanticism and Schumann's "Geistervariationen". In 2021, the two French pianists won first prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, along with five special awards. Since then they have toured across Europe, appear regularly at the Elbphilharmonie, and make their debut in Schwetzingen this year.