I have juxtaposed the monumental variations with the apparently lighter, but in fact musically profound Chopin pieces. Brahms’s music is lightly serious, Chopin’s is seriously light. (Misi Boros)

Misi Boros was born on April 11, 2003, in Pécs. At the age of 5, he and his brother received a piano and since then he has spent most of his free time playing the instrument. From the first moment he experimented with sounds, inventing his own melodies, and then he played them again and again, with variations. From the age of 6, he has learned to play the piano at the Ferenc Liszt Music School in Pécs, and his teacher is Mrs Ildikó Schmidt Megyimórecz.

For us, piano duets are a particularly special form of musical expression, somewhere between solo playing and chamber music. If the two-headed dragon of fairytales were to exist, he would probably feel something like a duo playing piano duets. Two performers on one instrument, who have to function as a complete unit. Every musical thought and idea, every feeling and motion must immediately be transformed into a shared intention. Meanwhile other obstacles to be overcome include a slightly awkward position at the keyboard, and the fact that only one player uses the pedals of the piano. And yet playing duets is such an incredible source of inspiration, the benefit is reaped in all other genres of music-making. Great masters composed extremely generously for this combination. Starting with the masterpieces of Mozart up to the present day, piano duets have a rich, varied repertoire at their fingertips. (Izabella Simon, Dénes Várjon)

The genesis of the oratorio The Seven Last Words of Christ is one of the most exciting stories in music history. In 1786, Haydn (who by then was already a famous composer throughout Europe) was commissioned by José Saluz de Santamaria, a priest from Cadiz, to write a piece of purely instrumental music for Holy Week. The maestro himself considered the piece to be one of his finest achievements. The instrument on this recording is a copy of an instrument made in 1805 by Viennese fortepiano maker Anton Walter.

Hungarian period instrument orchestra Capella Savaria has been hailed by the Canadian Opus Magazine as “one of Europe’s best ensembles”. Their new release offers an insight into Antonio Vivaldi’s concerto œuvre consisting of over 500 fascinating compositions. Besides the undoubtedly most substantial (and popular) pieces, the album also has a selection of concertos for flute and bassoon occasionally evoking the atmosphere of Vivaldi’s most renowned composition, The Four Seasons. Founded in 1981, in Szombathely, Capella Savaria has earned its fame as the first period instrument chamber orchestra of Hungary. Its innovative efforts created quite a sensation at the time in musical circles. The ensemble’s objectives were, from the onset, to play Baroque and Classical music in an authentic way by relying on genuine documents of the period. The founding artistic director was Pal Nemeth, followed by Zsolt Kallo who has been directing the ensemble since 1999. The members play authentic 18th century instruments or their copies.