Carl Reinecke (1824-1910) was court pianist in Copenhagen then taught in Cologne, giving concerts with Hiller. He is remembered primarily as a stern but sympathetic teacher (from 1860) at the Leipzig Conservatory. Among his pupils were Grieg, Sullivan and Weingartner. He mainly composed numerous piano works in the style of Schumann, Brahmsian chamber music and the simpler forms of popular ‘Hausmusik’.

Dian Baker and Eckart Sellheim have combined their many years of artistic experiences into the perfect medium – the piano duo. Since 1998 they have concertized – “four hands, two hearts, one piano” – in the United States and in Europe, and feel equally at home with the mainstream repertoire as well as with the lesser-known contemporary works for piano fourhands. The Duo has performed the complete fourhand works of Schubert on a variety of pianos and fortepianos, and these pieces, along with works by Mozart, Schumann, Brahms and Debussy, form the core of their extensive repertoire.