Ronald Brautigam performs some of Franz Schubert’s most profound and beloved works: the eight Impromptus. Schubert’s name has become closely associated with this genre, often characterized by a lyrical melody and a free-flowing structure, with a sense of spontaneity. With it, Schubert seems to have found an ideal setting for the expression of his genius.

Dutch pianist Ronald Brautigam divides his interpretive energies equally between the fortepiano and the conventional concert grand. Born in Amsterdam, Brautigam first studied with Dutch pianist Jan Wijn and later studies took him to the U.K. and to America, where he took classes with Rudolf Serkin. Brautigam first came to prominence in 1984 when he was awarded the Netherlands Music Prize, the highest distinction the Netherlands bestows on musicians.

The glowing richness of Sharon Bezaly's tone is immediately striking. The Prokofiev Sonata, here reclaimed for the flute, is light and fast on its feet. The Dutilleux Sonatina… is a tightly knit three-movement structure… it's easy to hear why it remains so popular among flautists, especially in this intensely felt performance, Bezaly darting from bar to bar in the animé finale, as if eluding capture.

Born in the vicinity of Cologne, only two years after and some sixty km distant from Beethoven, Johann Wilhelm Wilms was once a musical force to be reckoned with. In Amsterdam, where he lived from the age of 19, his music was actually performed more frequently than Beethoven’s at one period, and his orchestral works were played in such musical centres as Leipzig. Besides chamber music and solo sonatas, Wilms composed several symphonies and concertos, among them piano concertos for his own use.

Ronald Brautigam has been described as ‘an absolutely instinctive Mozartian… with melodic playing of consummate beauty’ (International Record Review), and he is once again supported by the period orchestra Die Kölner Akademie conducted by Michael Alexander Willens in a partnership which more than one reviewer has termed ‘ideal’.

These two exceptional works are here performed by Ronald Brautigam and Die Kölner Akademie, on their fifth disc of Mozart’s concertos – an ongoing series which has been described as ‘a lucky break and a true delight’ in the German magazine Piano News.

Born in the vicinity of Cologne, only two years after and some sixty km distant from Beethoven, Johann Wilhelm Wilms was once a musical force to be reckoned with. In Amsterdam, where he lived from the age of 19, his music was actually performed more frequently than Beethoven’s at one period, and his orchestral works were played in such musical centres as Leipzig. Besides chamber music and solo sonatas Wilms composed several symphonies and solo concertos (for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and cello) as well as piano concertos for his own use, five of which were published between 1799 and 1820.

Carl Maria von Weber wrote music that has been admired by composers as diverse as Schumann, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky. But in his lifetime he was also recognised as one of the finest pianists of the period, with an exceptional technique and a brilliant gift for improvisation.

Sharon Bezaly and Ronald Brautigam are two of the brightest stars in the musical firmament, so BIS Records are indeed fortunate to have them on their roster of artists. From Carl Reinecke's Undine Sonata, composed in 1882, to Poulenc's 1957 Flute Sonata this disc brings together five central works in the repertoire for flute and piano, covering a wide range of styles and approaches.