Haydn described Dussek as "the most honest, politest and most excellent man among all composers". Dussek worked as a composer and performer in London and wrote many works for the piano. He was a friend of the piano maker John Broadwood and persuaded him to add another octave to the instrument. Staier performs on such an instrument from 1806.

Jan Ladislav Dussek was an important composer of music for the modern piano, bridging the Classical and Romantic eras, yet most of his music is hard to find, both in performance and in print. This disc by Adrienne Soós and Ivo Haag is the first recording of four of his works for piano, four hands, and it demonstrates Dussek's thorough understanding of the piano. In the three sonatas and set of three fugues, one can hear just why his writing is often compared to that of later composers Beethoven and Schubert. In general, Dussek's writing is richer in texture and feeling than most Classical keyboard music, and it sounds completely idiomatic to the instrument. He was one of the first composers to use pedal markings, and he carefully used modulation, relating specific keys to moods. All of this is here. These sonatas have melodies that are almost Schubertian and developments that are Beethoven-like.

Bohemian-German composer Jan Ladislav Dussek, 10 years older than Beethoven and a major influence upon him in the realm of keyboard music, is known mostly for that keyboard music and for his chamber music with keyboard. This set of three string quartets from late in his career has apparently never been recorded before. Dussek confidently asserted to an English publisher that "they are neither in the Stile of Mozart, of Haydn, nor that of Pleyel, they are in the Stile of Dussek, and I hope will make some noise in the Musical World."

To Leopold Koželuh, rival and successor of Mozart, one essentially owes the abandoning of the harpsichord in favour of the pianoforte, and to Dussek / Dusík the advent of the modern piano. The second was erred only by being right too soon and writing avant-garde music before the pre-eminence of Liszt. It remains to grant them the place that they deserve for this instrument (34 piano Sonatas for Dussek), and in the sphere of forgotten piano duets.

In the 250th Beethoven anniversary year, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet has chosen this programme of works by contemporary composers to illuminate and contextualize Beethovens extraordinary output for piano. In his explanatory note for the album, the pianist writes: Just as a mountain peak is always surrounded by other perhaps less lofty but no less fascinating summits, the major works of Beethoven are not isolated rock formations rising from the desert, but, as it were, Himalayas, forming part of a range in which other mountains might be the best pieces by contemporaries such as Clementi, Hummel, Dussek, and Wölfl. These composers all knew Beethoven well and were in contact with one another.

Staier studied piano and harpsichord in the Hochschule für Musik in Hanover and Amsterdam. He studied piano with Kurt Bauer and Erika Haase, and harpsichord with Lajos Rovatkay. From 1983 to 1986 he was the harpsichord soloist for the ensemble Musica Antiqua Köln, touring frequently. At the same time he continued his studies in interpretation of classical and post-classical music on the fortepiano. He resigned from the ensemble in 1986 to embark on his solo career on both harpsichord and fortepiano.

Alexei Lubimov is one of the most admired pianists of his generation, particularly for his exploration of rarely-played repertoire on period instruments. Together with his disciple, harpsichordist and pianist Olga Pashchenko, a rising star of the new generation, and accompanied by the musicians of the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, they embark on a voyage of discovery into the music of Czech composer Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760-1812), with world premiere recordings on period instruments of his Concerto for Two Pianos and Notturno concertant. A trailblazing early romantic composer, Dussek created an innovative piano music style marked by a harmonic richness and intense emotional expressivity.