One of today’s most remarkable pianists, Elisabeth Leonskaja settled in Vienna in 1978. This is one of the reasons she indicates for her frequent recurrence to Brahms’ pianistic repertoire: “when you live in Vienna, you know the air that Brahms breathed,” she said in an interview. Her superb interpretation of Brahms’ piano sonatas was recognised with the Caecilia Prize in 1992. She says she is captivated by the many facets that the composer explores in his piano pieces and, with each return to his work, she renews her conviction that: “people absolutely need the music of Brahms”.