Viviana Sofronitsky - fortepiano and harpsichord
Viviana
Sofronitsky comes from a family of musicians. With her father, being
a distinguished Russian pianist, it was natural for her to continue
the family tradition and start piano. Still in Russia she earned a DMA
from the Moscow Conservatory and later a historical fortepiano and harpsichord
performance degrees from the Royal Conservatory in Den Haag.
Viviana Sofronitsky was awarded the First Prize at the "Bach Tage Berlin" competition, as well as prizes at the "Musica Antiqua" competition in Brugge. Since then she performs at such festivals as “Printemps des Arts” in Nantes, France, “Flanders festival”and “Handelsbeurs” in Belgium, Leipzig Bach Festival in Germany and with the "Oude Muziek Netwerk" (Utrecht Festival producer) in the Netherlands.
Viviana Sofronitsky is giving masterclasses and was broadcasted by many European and American radiostations. She recorded with the French “Suoni e colori” and Dutch “Globe” labels. Her current projects including recording Schubert’s works on romantic time fortepiano
Linda Nicholson – fortepiano (double and triple concerto)
Linda
Nicholson is one of the foremost keyboard players specialising in the
performance of baroque, classical and early romantic music on instruments
of the period. After studying at the Royal College of Music and London
University she won the two first international competitions held for
the fortepiano, namely the Concours International du Pianoforte in Paris
and the Festival of Flanders Competition in Bruges. She has performed
widely throughout Europe and the Far East, in solo recitals, chamber
music and as concerto soloist; for example with the Orchestra of the
Age of Enlightenment, Les Arts Florissants, and the Academy of Ancient
Music. She has recorded a number of Mozart piano concertos with the
Capella Coloniensis in a co-production between Westdeutsche Rundfunk
and Capriccio, the complete trios of Mozart and trios by Haydn and Beethoven
with the London Fortepiano Trio for Hyperion. She performs regularly
as a duo with the violinist Hiro Kurosaki, and their recording for Erato
of the complete violin sonatas of Mozart won the Japanese Academy Award
and was the highest selling classical record in the year it was released.
In 2004 she released a ground-breaking recording of Scarlatti sonatas
for Capriccio/WDR played on a reproduction of the type of fortepiano
known by Scarlatti to great critical acclaim.
Mario Aschauer - fortepiano (triple concerto)
Mario
Aschauer was born in 1980 in Linz/Upper Austria. After graduating from
the Linz Musikgymnasium, he studied organ, piano, harpsichord and fortepiano
as well as conducting, philosophy and musicology at the Linz Bruckner
Conservatory, the Mozarteum Salzburg and the University of Vienna. He
is founder and director of the Ensemble NovAntique Linz, a period instrument
Orchestra and Chorus specializing in the performance of late 18th century
music. Thus, projects have included rediscoveries of F.L. Gassmann’s
great oratorio La Betulia Liberata, G.C. Wagenseil’s Stabat Mater,
A. Salieri’s requiem compositions and, as a tribute to the 250th
anniversary of the composer’s birthday, J.M. Kraus’ Der
Tod Jesu.
Mario Aschauer gives concerts internationally as a soloist and chamber musician on historical keyboard instruments, currently preparing a concert series featuring the complete clavier sonatas by Joseph Haydn on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death in 2009.
As a musicologist, Aschauer occupies himself mainly with the Viennese classical period as his major field of research, presently writing a thesis on the complete repertoire of German clavier methods and treatises between 1750 and 1825. He is currently an assistant to Prof. Herbert Seifert at the Institute of Musicology of the University of Vienna, collaborating with him on lectures on philology, musical analysis and music history.
