LILI KRAUS (1903-1986)
Hungarian born-British pianist

Lili Kraus studied with Artur Schnabel, Zoltán Kodály, and Béla Bartók at the Budapest Conservatory and furthered her studies in Berlin with Schnabel who gave her a thorough grounding in the classics.  She quickly became known as a specialist in the performance of Mozart and Beethoven.

She plays Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert with a lyrical intensity and excitement in a way one almost never hears in the performance of these classical composers today.  The Schubert B♭ major sonata is a prime example, and all the more remarkable in that she was in her mid-seventies when it was recorded.  I can say without hesitation that this performance by Lili Kraus is one of the finest performances of the great work I have ever heard.  The more I listen to it, the more perfect I find every aspect, every movement. And I feel much the same way about all of her Schubert.

While her Mozart sonatas are indeed wonderful, the D minor Fantasy and B minor Adagio offer the kind of dramatic potential which is such fertile soil for the magic of her musical mind.

And her rendering of the Chopin Impromptu is so refreshing in its relaxed clarity.

To hear Lili Kraus performing with others follow this link: Lili Kraus Plays

Haydn  Piano Sonata in D major, Hob XVI:37 (L 50)
i Allegro con brio - ii Largo e sostenuto (03:55) - iii Finale: Presto ma non troppo (06:26)

recorded in 1950