"Franz Schubert's music is some of the most wonderful ever to be written down on paper by a human being, and this recording epitomizes the realization of a project that was especially important to me. Over the years I patiently collected the separate sections for this complete recording of Schubert's works for violin and piano. When, after many years, I heard my friend and chamber music partner of my youth, Christoph Berner, playing songs by Schubert sung by Werner Gura, I knew that I had finally found the long sought-after musical partner for this project so dear to my heart.

Christoph's musical imagination and the indescribable range of his expressive possibilities corresponded exactly to what I had in mind for this heavenly music. I had similar feelings also as regards the two instruments – the extraordinarily beautiful fortepiano by Andras Stein dating from 1825 and the violin by Lorenzo Ventapane from 1820, which is so rich in nuances. I was especially enthusiastic about the way in which the recording team from Headstart Records worked and achieved the miracle of capturing so authentically the enchanting sound of these two wonderful instruments.

We are fascinated in particular by the fact that on a very concise scale the violin and piano works make Schubert's entire compositional development audible. Despite their proximity to Mozart the three early sonatas already have an unmistakeable signature of their own. They are followed by the bright, spring-like Duo in A major and the heroic, virtuoso Rondo in B minor. The extra-terrestrial beginning of the Fantasia in C major seems to open the door to a different world, and as the piece progresses, it intuitively unifies a previously unimaginable expressiveness with formal boldness.

An additional source of inspiration was the richness and warmth of sound of the fortepiano made by Stein from the collection of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. Here again we should like to express our heartfelt thanks for making it available to us on loan." - Maria Kubizek & Christoph Berner