Maria João Pires & Ignasi Cambra

We don't hear her as often these days; her performances have become relatively rare. So when she does perform, Maria João Pires, the petite and graceful Portuguese pianist, stands out. As the Penguin Guide wrote about her complete set of Mozart's piano sonatas (she is playing one now as well): "Maria Joao Pires is a stylist and an excellent Mozartian. She is always refined, but never lacks classical sensibility, and possesses a vital imagination. She strikes an ideal balance between equilibrium and expressive sensitivity, conveying a sense of spontaneity in everything she does."

Ignasi Cambra is one of Spain’s most prominent and active pianists. Hailed by conductor Valery Gergiev as “someone who can talk to me at the piano”, he has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Ravinia Festival and the Mariinsky Theatre. A close collaborator of pianist Maria Joao Pires, he has performed with the Barcelona, Miami, Vancouver and Mariinsky symphony orchestras, under conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Tsung Yeh, Eduardo Marturet, Josep Pons and Salvador Brotons.