Award winning cellist Carmine Miranda and violinist Boris Abramov’s new Navona release Mozart / Beethoven: Violin and Cello Duets is an intimate collection of chamber music from the Classical Period. Drawn from various duos by Beethoven and Mozart, this album is substantive, and showcases a wide stylistic breadth of late eighteenth century German instrumental music, from the sumptuous levity of the divertimento, to the full brilliance of sonata form...

Any true lover of classical music will know how different the same pieces can be when performed by different musicians or in the hands of different conductors. Here Carmine Miranda and Boris Abramov bring their own flair to some of Mozart and Beethoven's work. In this recording both performers balance concepts of classical performance, musical research and virtuosic dexterity combined with a high-definition audio engineering in order to create the most realistic sound and definitive version of these works.

This is the first time that these pieces have been paired together for a recording, and the end result is rather satisfying.

The Beethoven arrangements come from a set for Clarinet and Bassoon composed without an opus number in the early 1790s. While Beethoven did not officially add these pieces to his catalog, the works rapidly became popular, and at least two widely distributed editions of the duos were published within his lifetime.

The two Mozart duos, originally composed for violin and viola, are a “better-known” treasure among violinists and violists, particularly in their approach to the era’s most important musical structure: sonata form. Indeed, both duos open with the same structural premise Mozart, Haydn, and their contemporaries more commonly used at the beginning of symphonies, piano sonatas, and string quartets.

If you're a true fan of Classical music, then this will find a very welcome place in your collection.

Track listing:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Two Duos for Violin and Cello
(ARR. Berke / Miranda)

Duo for Violin and Cello (Viola) in G Major, KV. 423
01 - I. Allegro
02 - II. Adagio
03 - III. Rondeau (Allegro)

Duo for Violin and Cello (Viola) in B Flat Major, K. 424
04 - I. Allegro
05 - II. Andante cantabile
06 - III. Tema con variazioni (Andante grazioso – Allegretto – Allegro)

Ludwig van Beethoven
Three Duos for Violin and Cello, WoO 27
(ARR. Hermann)

Duet No.1 for Violin and Cello (Clarinet & Bassoon) In C Major
07 - I. Allegro comodo
08 - II. Larghetto sostenuto
09 - III. Rondo: Allegretto

Duet No.2 for Violin and Cello (Clarinet & Bassoon) in F Major
10 - I. Allegro affettuoso
11 - II. Aria (Larghetto)
12 - III. Rondo (Allegro Moderato)

Duet No.3 for Violin and Cello (Clarinet & Bassoon) in B Flat Major
13 - I. Allegro sostenuto
14 - II. Aria con variazioni (Andantino con moto)

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Darren Rea