Mozart: Sonatas for four hands Thomas Beijer and Nicolas van Poucke

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791): Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in B Major, KV 358:
• 1Mozart: Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in B Major, KV 358: I. Allegro04:15
• 2Mozart: Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in B Major, KV 358: II. Adagio05:53
• 3Mozart: Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in B Major, KV 358: III. Molto presto03:08
• Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in F Major, KV 497:
• 4Mozart: Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in F Major, KV 497: I. Adagio - Allegro di molto09:16
• 5Mozart: Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in F Major, KV 497: II. Andante11:21
• 6Mozart: Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in F Major, KV 497: III. Allegro08:02
• Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in C Major, KV 521:
• 7Mozart: Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in C Major, KV 521: I. Allegro09:21
• 8Mozart: Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in C Major, KV 521: II. Andante07:27
• 9Mozart: Sonata for Piano Four-Hands in C Major, KV 521: III. Allegretto07:30
• Total Runtime01:06:13

Info for Mozart: Sonatas for four hands

Thomas Beijer (1988) and Nicolas van Poucke (1992) belong to the top of a new generation of young pianists in the Netherlands. Both have won many prizes and performed both solo and with orchestras at important venues in the Netherlands and abroad.

Nicolas is a passionate musician who has a keen sense of the music and plays with dynamics and emotion. Conductor Jaap van Zweden once called him an extreme talent. Thomas is a fascinating, passionate and versatile musician. Not only a brilliant pianist, but also a composer and even a writer. In 2022, Thomas was awarded the Dutch Music Prize, the highest state distinction for classical musicians. The jury called Beijer an 'uomo universale' and praised his flawless technique and unique narrative art.

"Van Poucke as a masculine force with his foot on the pedal on the bass side, and Beijer as a refined poet on the treble side of the grand piano, from Mozart's rarely performed quatre-mains sonatas 'sexy' dialogues sprang from which the intelligence, lust for life, humour, impetuosity, poetry, sensuality and sincere inspiration burst forth.” – Wenneke Savenije – De Nieuwe Muze

Both blessed with an excellent piano technique, a great capacity for empathy with the music and for each other, and a colourful imagination, Beijer and Van Poucke succeeded in bringing Mozart's naturally fragile notes to life with vitality, refinement and charm, without sullying them with ego display or instrumental coarseness. Hearing these friends play together is a delight.

Excerpt from the liner notes: cene 1 Indian summer, late afternoon. The house of Pianist 2 in the medium- sized provincial town of H. Pianist 1 enters, grinning broadly as ever, with two large bags full of groceries; the gentlemen are both avid amateur cooks and have agreed to spend this evening together cooking, drinking good wine, smoking cigars and discussing the current state of the universe. Yes, some people discover the true pleasures of life at an early age! It is all the stranger that Pianist 2 puts on a rather grumpy face when he sees that his younger comrade, in addition to a stalk of celery, a net of onions, a bottle of excellent Barolo, a couple of jalapeños and a few other such things, has also fished a score out of one of the bags, which, to Pianist 2’s dismay, judging from its lying format, can only contain music for four hands.

Thomas Beijer, piano
Nicolas van Poucke, piano

Thomas Beijer
Der junge Pianist und Komponist Thomas Beijer, 1988 in den Niederlanden geboren, studierte am Konservatorium von Amsterdam u.a. bei Jan Wijn. Er belegte Meisterkurse bei Jorge Luis Prats, Emanuel Axe, Menahem Pressler, Murray Perahia, Pascal Devoyon, Jacques Rouvier und Elza Kolodin. Sein Masterstudium schloss er 2011 mit Auszeichnung ab.

Bereits ab seinem zehnten Lebensjahr gab Thomas Beijer Konzerte in Europa und Asien. Mit dem Gewinn des renommierten Nationalen Klavierwettbewerbs der Young Pianist Foundation im Jahr 2007 gehört er zur Spitze einer neuen Generation von Pianisten in den Niederlanden. Die internationale Jury bezeichnete ihn als eine »sehr interessante musikalische Persönlichkeit mit unverwechselbaren Vorstellungen von Musik. Ein wahrer Künstler.«

Als Solist spielte er Klavierkonzerte u.a. von Mozart, Beethoven, Grieg, Brahms, Franck, Ravel, Gershwin und Adams mit Orchestern wie den Haager Philharmonikern, den Brabanter Philharmonikern, der Amsterdam Sinfonietta und dem Netherlands Student Orchestra. Er arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Neeme Järvi, Nicholas Milton, Ed Spanjaard und Bas Wiegers.

Sein Repertoire reicht von Musik des 17. Jahrhunderts bis zu zeitgenössischen Kompositionen. Beijer hat eine besondere Affinität zur spanischen Musik; Werke von Albéniz, Granados und de Falla sind oft Teil seiner Soloprogramme. Neben seinen Auftritten als Konzertpianist ist er auch Komponist und leidenschaftlicher Kammermusiker. Thomas ist Mitglied der Amsterdamer Kammersolisten und regelmäßiger Gast der Camerata Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Mit der Veröffentlichung einer CD mit Kompositionen von Johannes Brahms gab er 2008 sein CD-Debüt. 2012 präsentierte er seine zweite CD mit Werken von Rachmaninow. 2013 wurde er von Lyrone Records unter Vertrag genommen. Hier veröffentlichte er seine CD Canción y Danza und bereitete die Herausgabe einer vierten CD vor. Seine Aufnahmen sind in über 40 Ländern weltweit erhältlich. Thomas Beijer wird unterstützt durch die Young Pianist Foundation.

Nicolas van Poucke
was born in 1992 in Baarn, The Netherlands, into a family of professional musicians. The piano, which he took up at age six, quickly became the faithful companion for expressing a love of music that, until today, thrives as much on opera, orchestra, and chamber music as on the piano repertoire. After an highly acclaimed recital in a sold-out Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Dutch music magazine De Nieuwe Muze dubbed Nicolas “the young freethinker among Dutch pianists”.

Nicolas has performed at such venues as Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie Berlin and Philharmonie Essen. In addition, other tours have taken him to Cuba (Havana Mozart Festival), Korea (Changwon and Tongyeong), Italy and France. He has performed with various orchestras in The Netherlands under conductors including Jurjen Hempel, Conrad van Alphen and Roberto Beltran-Zavala.

In 2013 Nicolas released his debut album with works by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms which was favourably reviewed. 2019 saw the release of Nicolas’ second album, Chopin Sonatas No. 2 & 3, released on vinyl and digital platforms. "Van Poucke brings out Chopin's strong - sometimes even demonic - side, in a both virtuoso and sensitive manner" wrote NRC. Trouw; "He plays these works with great dedication. and with powerful playing, he brings out the grandeur of the works. This is aristocratic music, even in lyrical passages, which Van Poucke makes convincing. He gives space to poetry, without falling into weakness or inappropriate rubato."

Further highlights of his 19/20 season include recitals at the Oosterpoort Groningen, De Zeeuwse Concertzaal Middelburg, his debut at the prestigious NTR Zaterdagmatinee series in The Concertgebouw, as well as several orchestral engagements and piano duo performances with Thomas Beijer in Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam and in the Muziekcentrum van de Omroep Hilversum.

An accomplished chamber musician, he has worked with such artists as Colin Carr, Christiaan Bor, Claudio Bohorquez, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Godfried Hoogeveen, Gil Sharon, Andreas Reiner, Igor Roma and Pavel Vernikov. Together with violist Daniel Palmizio he has recorded Bach’s complete Gamba sonatas and Brahms’ Opus 120 which will be released on Zefir Records. Nicolas has a long-standing duo with his sister, cellist Ella van Poucke, with whom he has recently performed Beethoven’s complete music for piano & cello in Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam and in Berlin. In 2020 they had planned to record this repertoire as well as performing it in Italy, Germany and The Netherlands.

Nicolas studied with David Kuyken and Jan Wijn (Conservatory of Amsterdam). Furthermore, he has been mentored by Murray Perahia, Alfred Brendel and Martha Argerich. Nicolas lives in Amsterdam with his partner and their two children.

This album contains no booklet.