Mozart’s “Sonatas for piano with violin accompaniment,” as they were called in original publications, date from as early as January 1764 (Köchel nos. 6 and 7) when Mozart was just eight years old, and continue to K. 547 in 1788, identified in the New Mozart Edition as his 26^th essay in this genre. At a late-morning recital at Shalin Liu on Saturday we heard warmly expressive, energetic, beautifully cantabile renditions of three of these sonatas from Mozart’s middle years, ranging from the same time (1778, Paris) as his most popular piano solos, to the time of his most abundant piano concertos (1784, Vienna), with the success of his opera Idomeneo in between (1781). In these three duos, the piano and violin become true partners, each sharing the accompanimental role as well as the soloistic, with plenty of central focus for each: Mark Steinberg, violin, and Jonathan Biss, piano, in total harmony, presenting the ever-flowing melody in every instant.

The Sonata, K. 305, in two movements, dates from about the same time of the E Minor Sonata (K. 304), which is probably Mozart’s best-known violin sonata. This lesser-known one, in A major, is a gentle forerunner to the sonata K. 526, also in A major, a large-scaled work from nine years later, right after Don Giovanni, but it also looks forward to Beethoven’s Op. 12, No. 2 (1798); all three of these works begin with a broad expanse of 6/8. Mozart’s K. 305 has a second movement in six 2/4 variations, including no. 5 in minore.

Flat keys aren’t as generous as sharp keys for violin writing, with a lesser population of available open strings, and yet E-flat major and B-flat major show up regularly in Mozart’s sonatas. K. 380 in E-flat major, from 1781, is the last of six violin sonatas dedicated to Josepha von Auernhammer, two years younger than Mozart, who studied piano with him and might have also had a crush on him. (Two other violin sonatas in the same key preceded it.) The first movement is strongly pianistic, and from the sound of it, Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto is not so many years down the road. The G minor Andante con moto that follows is full of sighs and even some drama; the 6/8 rondo finale, with a bouncy theme, has some companionate textures in the last movement of the F Major piano sonata, K. 332, which so many of us played in our youth — lots of notes and always comfortable.

Last on the program, and largest in scope, was the Sonata in B-flat Major, K 454 (1784), which fits in neatly in chronology between Piano Concertos no. 15 (K. 450) and 18 (K. 456), both also in B-flat major. The Allegro first movement begins with an unusual 13-bar Largo introduction, with a suspenseful dominant preparation, The slow movement is quite long, with an elegant episode of chromatic modulation; the rondo finale is even longer (269 bars), but the length is lighthearted, and Le nozze di Figaro was just two years away.

The team of Jonathan Biss and Mark Steinberg perfectly projected the relaxed vitality of the three sonatas, making their affection for the job apparent throughout — chamber music and Innigkeit at their best, and Mozart’s melody unsurpassed.

Mark DeVoto, musicologist and composer, is an expert on the music of Alban Berg, Debussy, and other early 20th-century composers. A graduate of Harvard College (1961) and Princeton (Ph.D., 1967), he has published on many music subjects, and edited the revised fourth (1978) and fifth (1987) editions of Harmony by his teacher Walter Piston.