Maria João Pires & Ignasi Cambra

We don't hear her as often nowadays; her performances have become relatively rare. So when she does perform, Maria João Pires, the petite and slender Portuguese pianist with the elegant sound, graces the stage. Or as the Penguin Guide wrote about her complete set of Mozart's piano sonatas (she's performing one now too): "Maria Joao Pires is a stylist and an excellent Mozartian. She is always refined, but never lacks classical feeling, and possesses a vital imagination. She strikes an ideal balance between evenness and expressive sensitivity, conveying a sense of spontaneity in everything she does."