It’s about time for the (re-)discovery of an outstanding pianist of the 20th century! Lili Kraus, born in Hungary, set interpretative milestones with her Haydn and Mozart recordings and is also highly regarded by connoisseurs around the world for her playing of the works of Schubert. In Germany, her perception always stayed in the shadows of an Edwin Fischer or Wilhelm Backhaus, as she represented a completely different, much less monumental style of interpretation. Her subtle interpretive skills were particularly appreciated in France, where most of her recordings were made. Kraus was educated in Budapest by Zoltán Kodály (music theory) and by Béla Bartók (piano), in Berlin she later attended Artur Schnabel’s masterclass. Her career, which began in the 1930s, was rudely interrupted by the rise of National Socialism in Germany. Kraus fled from the persecution of Jews to England and the Netherlands. On her first world tour in 1943 she was arrested in Japan and released after the war in a dreadful mental and physical state. It was not until 1948 that she was able to resume her career.

Lili Kraus' special love was for chamber music. She played the violin sonatas by Mozart and Beethoven among other with violinists Szymon Goldberg and Willi

Boskovsky, her favorite chamber music partners. Testimonies of this exquisite musical collaboration can be heard in this documentation including 10 original

albums from 1934 to 1962 with works by Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert and Bartók.

• Bartók: 3 Rondos on Slovak Folk Tunes, BB 92, Sz. 84
• Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances for piano, Sz. 56, BB 68
• Beethoven: Eroica Variations, Op. 35
• Beethoven: Fantasia for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra in C minor, Op. 80
• Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
• Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 'Waldstein'
• Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
• Haydn: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Hob.XVI:46
• Haydn: Piano Sonata No. 32 in G minor, Hob.XVI:44
• Haydn: Piano Sonata No. 62 in E flat major, Hob.XVI:52
• Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat major, K271 "Jeunehomme"
• Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major, K414
• Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 18 in B flat major, K456
• Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K466
• Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 13 in B flat major, K333
• Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major, K545 'Facile'
• Mozart: Violin Sonata in F major, K55
• Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 1 in C Major, K6
• Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 12 in G major, K27
• Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 17 in C major, K296
• Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 25 in F major, K377
• Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 26 in B flat major, K378
• Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 27 in G major, K379
• Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 28 in E flat major, K380
• Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 30 in C major, K403
• Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 33 in E flat major K481
• Mozart: Zwölf Variationen in Es-Dur über das französische Lied 'La belle Francoise' K353 (300f)
• Schubert: Divertissement à la Hongroise D818
• Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 14 in A minor, D784
• Schubert: Polonaise in D major, D824/2
• Schubert: Polonaise in D major, D824/3
• Schubert: Polonaise in D minor, D824/1
• Schubert: Sonata (Sonatina) for violin & piano in D major, D384 (Op. posth. 137 No. 1)
• Schubert: Variations in B flat major, D968A (D603)
• Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54