ABOUT THE RECORDING

After her widely acclaimed first Haydn recording, the Israeli pianist Yaara Tal, known as one half of the unique international piano duo Tal & Groethuysen, is now presenting her second solo album.The dance theme of her new CD, Polonaise, is reflected in the dance-like works of the Austrian composer, piano virtuoso, and son of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Xaver Mozart (1791–1844) and his famous Polish contemporary Frédéric Chopin. Originally a Polish national dance danced both in rural settings as well as at court, in the 18th century the polonaise increasingly established itself in the courts of Europe’s nobility, and reached its high point in, among others, the famous polonaises of Frédéric Chopin. For her new album Yaara Tal chose three rarely recorded early works of the composer: the Polonaise in A-flat major KK IVa No. 2 (1821), B-flat minor KK IVa No. 5 (1826), and G-flat major KK IVa No. 8 (1829) and combined them with polonaises by Franz Xaver Mozart: the 6 Polonaises mélancoliques op. 17 and 4 Polonaises mélancoliques op. 22.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Yaara Tal was born in Israel. She gave her first concert at the age of seven and was generously supported throughout her youth by the American-Israel Cultural Foundation. She studied piano with Arie Vardi and composition with Abel Ehrlich and André Hajdu at the Rubin Music Academy in Tel Aviv. Her musical versatility has allowed her to establish herself with various chamber music formations in a wide range styles. After several years performing as a soloist, Yaara Tal founded a piano duo together with Andreas Groethuysen, which has been the main focus of our recital career ever since. Thanks to their exclusive contract with the SONY CLASSICAL record label, they have amassed a discography of 40 CDs internationally acclaimed by critics and audiences alike. Their CDs have won numerous accolades (including the German Record Critics’ Prize, five ECHO Klassik Awards and the Cannes Classical Award) and enriched the market with numerous premiere recordings. One of the focal points of their discography is certainly the complete recordings of piano works for four hands by Franz Schubert and the complete Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart piano duos. Yaara Tal is featured in her first solo CD in a recording of Haydn’s "The Seven last Words" of our Saviour on the Cross released in the autumn of 2014.