In almost 14 years of collaboration, during which he was my most important piano partner (between 1979 and 1992), Harald became a friend who accompanied me not only as a violinist, but also in my explorations as a composer. 

I can recall many unforgettable shared experiences with this great artist and human being. These include Berg's Chamber Concerto, which we performed several times in France together with Peter Burwik's ensemble XX. jahrhundert– including an open-air concert at the Maeght Foundation in St. Paul de Vence, where we competed with croaking frogs and chirping crickets! Also memorable are the many rarities we performed and recorded all over Europe, including sonatas by Johann Wolfgang Korngold, Bruno Walter, Albert Roussel, the 2nd Sonata by Camille Saint-Saëns, and the Duo by Franz Liszt.

Our shared love for contemporary music and music of the 20th century Modernism played a major role in our collaboration: works by Bela Bartók, George Enescu, Schönberg and Webern, but also by Austrian composers such as Erich Urbanner, Robert Schollum and Friedrich Cerha, were part of our repertory. In addition, I enjoyed his support as a partner in performing my own compositions for many years.

During that time, Harald also became an acclaimed performer of chamber music, and collaborated with the great violinist Henryk Szeryng. Especially memorable was his first appearance with Szeryng in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein in 1979, as well as a concert in an obscure casino near Geneva. He also collaborated with Josef Sivó, Florian Kitt, and many others, and was a member of a piano trio for several decades. Most recently, he had devoted himself to piano literature for four hands together with Christos Marantos. A commissioned composition for the two was our last artistic collaboration together.

Harald was also well known as a passionate educator. This proved to be significant for my Ensemble Wiener Collage, since he once recommended to us one of his students, Johannes Marian, who has been the ensemble's permanent pianist for almost three decades. To me, Harald was both a source of inspiration and a close personal friend. He cannot be replaced by anything or anyone. He will be missed very much by everyone who knew him and had the opportunity to work with him.

René Staar and Harald Ossberger perform Staar's Epilogue to »Just an Accident?« op. 9 ter
Staar and Ossberger perform Staar's Hommage à und temps perdu op. 6
Staar and Ossberger perform Erich Urbanner, 5 Pieces for Violin and Piano