Pianists Mark Robson and Steven Vanhauwaert at Le Salon de Musiques

With the season finale of Le Salon de Musiques along at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion’s chamber-music friendly fifth floor on Sunday, artistic director and pianist Each Others Way Tabi No Tochuu Francois Chouchan programmed two masterpieces on the two-piano genre: Mozart’s Sonata in D Major and Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 1 (“Fantaisie-tableaux”). Chouchan himself decided on joining Steven Vanhauwaert since the partner of the duo, but when children emergency summoned him returning to Paris, he chose Mark Robson to exchange him. Robson, a founding person in Piano Spheres, happens to be in Liszt mode, using a free recital of song transcriptions scheduled for June 5 in the New york County Museum of Art. And Vanhauwaert, a normal guest performer for that Jacaranda series, recently released a remarkable disc including functions by Schubert, Schumann and Liszt. Still, it absolutely was remarkable that whenever only four rehearsals, Vanhauwaert and Robson could give such exuberant and sensitive accounts of both scores. Mozart’s robust, inventive Sonata became a great vehicle for these superb pianists, whose resonant ensemble playing sounded just like a mini-orchestra. They conveyed a galloping energy inside work’s outer movements. For some reason, one piano involved one yard longer compared to other, so inside a spirit of equality, Vanhauwaert took the bigger Steinway within the Mozart, switching with Robson for that Rachmaninoff. “Size matters,” as Vanhauwaert quipped in a lively champagne-fueled post-concert discussion, a signature event at Le Salon, plus a Patina-catered sandwich and dessert buffet. The pianists gave an uninhibited, richly sonorous reading of Rachmaninoff’s enjoyably florid neo-Romantic early Suite. In the Byronic Adagio, “A Nights Love,” Robson about the first (larger) piano led a Liszt-sized love duet that rose to a triple forte climax. And in the operatic Largo di molto “Tears,” the duo conveyed a new man’s concept of romantic despair. The performance was capped off by their joyously pealing bell effects inside the "Russian Easter" finale. Since its tentative begin in October, Le Salon de Musiques is continuing to grow in stature. I've sampled two previous offerings, both excellent. But Sunday's piano-duo recital really was buzzing. A German consul was there. The crowd Q&A was lively and intelligent, kids were within the audience -- some attending their first classical music performance -- and the young scholar chosen to introduce the background music, Julius Reder Carlson, was focused and insightful. He involved to protect his dissertation for any PhD immediately at UCLA, and told me "this was sound practice." I also overheard several budding musicians asking Vanhauwaert and Robson questions such as "How can you communicate to one another across two concert grands as long as you're performing?" Le Salon just announced its second season of monthly concerts. It looks like the series has come into its own.