Schubert's oeuvre for piano four hands contains several masterpieces, the Sonata D.812 "Grand Duo" is certainly one of them. This piece, with its playing time of about 45 minutes, is set up in such a grand way that Schumann and Brahms, among others, saw this work as a kind of keyboard excerpt from a never-written symphonic score. Their friend, the violinist Joseph Joachim, was of the same opinion
… and put words into action by making an orchestration of this sonata. Almost everyone who listens to this piece will at least understand the aforementioned gentlemen: even when played four hands, the piano still seems an inadequate medium for the rich flow of typically Schubertian melodies and harmonies. The performance of this Sonata by Barenboim and Lupu is excellent,more
