"Mozart is the reason why I became a musician," reveals Emmanuel Pahud. At the age of four, the Swiss star flautist fell in love with a Mozart flute concerto that he heard a neighbor play - and wanted to be able to play it himself. Mozart's works have accompanied the winner of the 2024 Léonie Sonning Music Prize ever since, and his fascination has only deepened over the years. "When I play his compositions today," confesses Pahud, "I feel a connection between body and soul when I breathe in and out. These emotions that arise through the breath while playing - for me, only Mozart can do that, it's unique. He treats instruments like the human voice". However, because Mozart's flute concertos are limited, the composer's violin sonatas have been transcribed and a selection can now be found on Emmanuel Phaud's album "Mozart Stories". Transcriptions of his violin sonatas for the flute were already published during the composer's lifetime. In his own transcription, Emmanuel Pahud ensures that Mozart's handwriting is preserved. The flautist has often included these sonatas in his programs when performing with his long-time piano partner Éric Le Sage. For this album, Pahud has chosen works that illustrate the spectrum of Mozart's expressive possibilities: While the Sonata in E minor was composed on the night when Mozart's mother was dying and the composition contains anger and sadness, the C major Sonata speaks of pure champagne bliss. And in the G major sonata, there is even a sense of perfection.