Mendelssohn: Complete Works For Piano Four Hands And For Two Pianos Alessandra Ammara & Roberto Prosseda

• Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): Sonata in D Major MWV S 1 (1820) for 2 Pianos
• 1 1. Allegro 05:54
• 2 2. Menuetto - Trio 02:04
• 3 3. Prestissimo 03:12
• 4 Klavierstück (Sonata Movement) in G Minor, MWV S 2 (1820) For 2 Pianos 03:33
• Fantasie in D Minor MWV T 1 (1824) For 4 Hands
• 5 1. Adagio - Allegro 05:33
• 6 2. Andante - Più Moto 04:27
• 7 3. Allegro molto 03:19
• Duetto (Allegro brillante) in A Major Op. 92 (1841), MWV T 4 For 4 Hands
• 8 1. Andante 02:25
• 9 2. Allegro assai vivace 07:33
• 10 Andante con Variazioni in B Flat Major Op. 83a (1844), MWV U 159 For 4 Hands 10:58
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op.61 Incidental Music - Arr. For Piano Duet
• 11 1. Overture 10:48
• 12 2. Scherzo 03:59
• 13 5. Intermezzo 03:05
• 14 6. Notturno 05:12
• 15 7. Wedding March 04:37
• Total Runtime 01:16:39

Info for Mendelssohn: Complete Works For Piano Four Hands And For Two Pianos

Alessandra Ammara
has drawn the attention of the musical world from a young age, succeeding in major international piano competitions such as the "J. Iturbi" in Valencia, the "Casagrande" in Terni, "G. B. Viotti" in Vercelli, and the "Van Cliburn" in Fort Worth. In 2000 she was awarded “Laureate” by the "Esther Honens" international piano competition in Calgary, Canada.

Ms. Ammara’s concert schedule is continuously growing, performing throughout Europe and America. Some notable concert highlights include performances at Grosses Philharmonie in Berlin, Salle Cortot in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Gasteig in Munich, Jack Singer Hall in Calgary, Bass Hall in Fort Worth and Meridian Center in Washington. She has thrilled audiences as soloist with orchestras such as Berliner Wymphoniker, Orchestra Sinfonica della Rai, Orquesta Ciudad de Cordoba, Calgary Philharmonic, Cape Town Philharmonic, Natal Philharmonic in Durban, Neue Philarmonie Westfalen, and Philharmonie der Nationen.

Alessandra collaborates with many great interpreters, including Ingrid Attrot, Rocco Filippini, Alban Gerhardt, Anton Kuerti, Shauna Rolston, the Takacs Quartet and the Sine Nomine Quartet. Since 1999 she has toured in piano duo with Roberto Prosseda. Ms. Ammara’s discography includes her recording for the Canadian label Arktos with music by Debussy, Skrijabin and Chopin. Together with some of the greatest pianists in the world, she recorded the new complete Chopin edition produced by Brilliant Classics. Since 2008 Alessandra records for the German label Arts. Her first Arts CD, dedicated to Chopin’s 4 Ballades, was published in September 2008. Her next release for Arts will include the World Premiere Recording of Giacinto Scelsi’s Preludes.

Alessandra Ammara graduated from the "L. Cherubini" Conservatory of Florence and the Accademia Pianistica of Imola. She honed her talents as a student of great musicians like Maria Tipo, Paul Badura-Skoda, Dmitri Bashkirov, Franco Scala, Boris Petrushansky, Leon Fleisher, William Naboré and Fou Ts'ong at the International Piano Foundation at Lake Como and the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole.

Upcoming engagements include major concerts at the Musikverein in Wien with Wiener Symphoniker, at the Grosser Festspielhaus in Salzburg and her third appearance with the Calgary Philharmonic.

Roberto Prosseda
Born in Latina, Italy, in 1975, Roberto Prosseda began his piano coaching with Anna Maria Martinelli and Sergio Cafaro. Then he studied at the Accademia Pianistica "Incontri col Maestro" in Imola with Alexander Lonquich, Boris Petrushansky and Franco Scala and at the International Piano Foundation in Cadenabbia with Dmitri Bashkirov, Leon Fleisher, William Grant Naboré, Charles Rosen, Karl Ulrich Schnabel, Fou Ts'Ong.

His sensational discovery of new Mendelssohn works made headlines in Europe and lead to seven Decca releases which have won several prizes, including the CHOC from Le Monde de la Musique Classique, the Diapason d’Or and Chamber Music CD of the Month in the UK’s Classic FM magazine. Mendelssohn's piano music, often neglected by major pianists, has got a strong revival thanks to Roberto Prosseda's concerts and recordings.

Critics and public alike have come to recognise Prosseda’s interpretations as communicating a deep emotion and introspection, capable of moving the listener, thanks also to a particular use of rubato and a great variety of timbres, particularly in Prosseda’s use of pianissimo. In 2010, Deutsche Grammophon selected twelve recordings by Prosseda to add to the box set, “Classic Gold”, released in May 2010.

Since 2005, Roberto Prosseda has performed regularly with some of the world’s most important orchestras, such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Moscow State Philharmonic, Bruxelles Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic and the Leipzig Gewandhaus. With the Gewandhaus, conducted by Riccardo Chailly, he recorded the 3rd Piano Concerto in E minor by Mendelssohn, released on the Decca International label in September 2009. In Italy he performs regularly for the prestigious Serate Musicali di Milano and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and is frequently invited to the major concert series, including La Scala Milan, Unione Musicale in Turin, Accademia Filarmonica Romana in Rome and the Teatro la Fenice in Venice.

Other than Mendelssohn, Prosseda’s interpretations of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Chopin have been particularly praised, and these composers have in fact featured in Prosseda’s recent recordings. An active proponent of contemporary music, Prosseda performs the complete piano works of Petrassi, Dallapiccola. He is the dedicatee of several new piano works by many leading Italian composers, such as Claudio Ambrosini, Carlo Boccadoro, Paolo Castaldi, Nicola Campogrande, Aldo Clementi, Ivan Fedele, Luca Lombardi, Ennio Morricone, Alessandro Solbiati.

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