Mozart: Duos for Violin and Viola, Menuetto K487

Mozart s Duos for violin and viola are perennial favorites, both to the musicians that play them but also to audiences lucky enough to hear them in concert. These works never cease to amaze Mozart uses the two instruments so effectively and with such exquisite craftsmanship that he never leaves one wondering where the rest of the string quartet might have gone. The virtuosity of the viola parts hints that they may have been originally written for Mozart himself. They are paired here with less well-known but very charming Duos by Michael Haydn. The character of these pieces is often reminiscent of Austrian folk music and it really seems as if you can hear yodeling bouncing off the mountains in timely echoes. Violinist Rachel Podger is joined by violist Jane Rogers for this gorgeous recording of rarely heard chamber music.