"On his debut album, 21-year-old Elias David Moncado presents works from the early 20th century. The selection shows that he is interested in the composer’s relationship to his environment, especially in terms of psychological stress and anxiety. In Poulenc, he sees hidden passion, brutality and pain; Hindemith juxtaposes somber, heroic and dance-like moments; Bartok employs incredibly sophisticated timbres against a backdrop of a general mood of suffering.Moncado approaches his interpretations with youthful intensity and solid craftsmanship. The creative density also gives rise to a romantically dense sound, to which is added the structurally transparent design of the compositions. On the one hand, this makes possible the clear presentation that allows the structure of the works to be heard. On the other hand, Moncado is so involved that one can hear the jokes and fears that the composers at least unconsciously let flow into their work. Thus he makes his debut a deliberate display of expressive worlds, making unfocused listening impossible.Hansjacob Staemmler is a pianist who, as a lecturer himself, goes beyond technique to convey the inner values of the music. This makes him an ideal partner in this duo, who, in addition to mastering his own instrument, can understand and likewise convey the issues of mood."
