Concert review: Mark Steinberg (violin) Jonathan Biss (piano)

In an evening of Mozart violin sonatas for a packed, rapt crowd, Mark Steinberg and Jonathan Biss seemed near-ideal partners in this repertoire. That sense was evident from the beginning of the A major Sonata K305 with the duo showing both vigour and delicacy, until they turned its concluding Andante grazioso into a delicious game of cat-and-mouse.

For the E flat major Sonata K380, nimbleness was the order of the day. Both Steinberg and Biss let the scales fly with an ease and naturalness that are more difficult to achieve than they appear. The playful, skipping Rondeau Allegro made the perfect flourish before the interval. But the yearning middle movement won the prize, as if for a moment the world’s tumult seemed to recede into the background.

In the brief C major Sonata K303, contrasts were entertaining, with Biss tiptoeing in before Steinberg responded by charging in like a bull (politely), and vice versa. In scarcely 12 minutes, the emotional ground covered often exceeded works of twice that length.

Of course, the players saved the best for last: in the B flat major Sonata K454 there was drama of symphonic scope, as if a velvet curtain had been pulled aside to reveal a Shakespeare production. As in the previous pieces, Biss showed both restraint and ample cannon fire when needed, and never overwhelmed Steinberg, who was playing the 1732 ‘Tom Taylor’ Stradivari with a Tourte bow, both shown all night to great advantage.

For the encore, Biss mentioned the pair’s previous concert in December 2025 where they’d played the D major Sonata K306: ‘We hope you won’t mind hearing a bit of it again’. No-one was complaining!

BRUCE HODGES