List of classical piano duos (performers)
The term piano duo can refer both to a genre of music, written for two pianists to play at either one or two pianos, or to the two pianists themselves.
This is a list of notable performers who appeared as piano duos in classical music. Most of these pianists performed works for piano four-hands (two pianists at one piano; also known as piano duet) as well as works for two pianos, often with orchestras or chamber ensembles. Some of these teams focussed exclusively or predominantly on this repertoire, but some also appeared separately as solo pianists.
Some piano duos appear under a single name (such as the Long Island Piano Duo), or a unified name (such as Nettle & Markham), but the majority simply use both their names (such as Katia and Marielle Labèque or Bracha Eden and Alexander Tamir).
People in this list should not be added to List of classical pianists unless they also had significant careers as solo pianists. However, if they recorded music requiring two pianists, they should be added to List of classical pianists (recorded).
List of classical piano duos
- Sorting note
- The main entry is sorted by the pianist whose surname appears earlier in the alphabet, and the other pianist is cross-referenced in smaller type. Where their names are usually referred to in a different order, or they use a special name for their duo, that entry appears in the 2nd column.
- Richard Markham
- David Nettle
- Peter Rostal
- Paul Schaefer
Members | Name of duo (where relevant) | Notes and references | |
---|---|---|---|
| Stephanie and Saar Duo | [1] | |
Alexander and Daykin | [2] | ||
| Duo Berlinskaya-Ancelle | ||
| Appleton and Field | Alan Hovhaness wrote his Symphony No. 45, Op. 342 (1954) for them, but they never played it.[3] | |
seen in either order | |||
Vronsky & Babin | |||
| Elena Sorokina and Alexander Bakhchiev | [4] | |
| |||
| Bartlett and Robertson | ||
| [5] | ||
seen in either order | |||
Bradshaw-Buono Duo | Discography includes: Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, Fest-Polonaise, The Entrance of the Guests to the Wartburg, Benediction and Sermon, March and Cavatina and Fantasy and Fugue on the Chorale 'Ad nos, Ad Salutarem undam'.[6] | ||
Bizjak Piano Duo | |||
Duo Boschi-Mounier | "Debussy, Clementi, Mozart, Busoni : Musique pour 2 pianos / vol.2 : En blanc et noir - Sonate / op. 12 n° 5 - Sonate / K. 448 - Fantasia contrappuntistica (recorded in France, REM) | ||
| DuoKeira Piano Duo | ||
| Franz Liszt Piano Duo | They have recorded Bresciani's arrangement of Liszt's Dante Sonata, and Liszt's arrangement of the Dante Symphony.[7] | |
| Recorded Poulenc's complete music for 2 pianists.[8] | ||
| seen in either order | [9] | |
Cann Twins | [4] | ||
| Duo Caron | ||
seen in either order | |||
| [4] | ||
| Goldstone and Clemmow | Made the world premiere recording of the two-piano arrangement of Grieg's Concerto in A minor, written by Grieg and Károly Thern. Also the first recording of Grieg's piano version of the "Homage March" from Sigurd Jorsalfar.[10] They have recorded the piano duet version of Chopin's 2nd Piano Concerto in F minor (arr. Chopin and Carl Mikuli)[11][12] | |
| Clinton/Narboni Duo | [4] | |
Richard and John Contiguglia | Made the first recording of Beethoven's 9th Symphony in the two-piano transcription by Franz Liszt; revived Victor Babin's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra; gave New York premiere of Max Bruch's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in A flat minor; made many world premiere recordings of works by Liszt and Bartók.[13] | ||
Duo Crommelynk | They were a very prominent duo, founded in 1974; their three-disc set of the four-hand works of Schubert won a Grand Prix du Disque; many composers wrote works for them. They both died by suicide on 14 July 1994.[4][14] | ||
| De Stefano Piano Duo | [15] | |
| [4] | ||
| Victor and Luis del Valle | [1] | |
| [4] | ||
Genova & Dimitrov | Made world premiere recording of the complete piano duo works of Shostakovitch.[16][17] | ||
| Jordans & Van Doeselaar Piano Duo | [18] | |
Wiener et Doucet | |||
| D&B Duo | [19] | |
| Duo Egri and Pertis | [4] | |
| [4][20] | ||
| Duo d´Accord | Made the premiere recording of Clara Schumann's arrangement for piano 4-hands of Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet in E flat, Op. 44.[21] | |
Ferrante & Teicher | |||
Gold and Fizdale | |||
| |||
| |||
Lillian and Irwin Freundlich | [4] | ||
| Yoshie and Takashi | [1] | |
| Gareis & Pohl | European premiere of J.Adams "Hallelujah junction" (2000)[22] | |
| HOCKET | Contemporary music piano duo | |
| |||
| Goldina & Loumbrozo | [23][24] | |
| [4] | ||
| Maribeth and Bradford Gowen | [4] | |
| Piano Duo Vis-à-vis | [1] | |
| Duo Tal & Groethuysen | ||
| Margherita Malagoli and Roberto Guerra | [4] | |
| Thomas Hecht and Sandra Shapiro | [4][23] | |
| Hernádi-Mocsári Piano Duo | Recorded works by Bartók, including a duo-piano arrangement of The Miraculous Mandarin.[25] | |
| [1] | ||
| Stecher and Horowitz Piano Duo | [26] | |
| Made the world premiere recording of 22 unknown original transcriptions by Sergei Rachmaninoff for piano for four hands after Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty.[27][28] | ||
| Piano Duo Humburger | [29] | |
| Frances Veri and Michael Jamanis | [4] | |
| [4] | ||
Jacqueline Robin and Genevieve Joy | |||
| Heidi and Alfred Kanwischer | [4] | |
| Kapsetaki duo | The Greek/British twins are concert pianists and scientists. | |
Invencia Piano Duo | In collaboration with Naxos Records, on its Grand Piano series, they have released four CDs of Florent Schmitt's complete duo-piano works.[30][31][32][33] | ||
| Walter and Beatriz Klien | ||
| Recorded 17 CDs of all Brahms's arrangements for piano 4-hands or 2 pianos (mostly of his own music, but including Schumann's Piano Quintet in E flat.[34] | ||
seen in either order | They have given first performances of works by Luciano Berio, Sylvano Bussotti, Mauricio Kagel, Karlheinz Stockhausen,[35] Henri Pousseur, Luis de Pablo and Bernd Alois Zimmermann.[36][37] | ||
| Kotlyar-Shifrin Piano Duo | [38][39] | |
| Koshka Piano Duo | [40] | |
| Valentina Lisista and Alexei Kuznetsoff | [4][41] | |
| Carles and Sofia piano duo | ||
Rawicz and Landauer | Played mainly light classics and arrangements of existing works.[42] | ||
| The Latsos Piano Duo | Individually, Anna Fedorova-Latso from Russia, and Giorgi Latso from Tbilisi, Georgia, are piano virtuosos on the international classical music scene, who have performed in recitals,[43][44] chamber ensembles, and have performed with leading orchestras worldwide. They just released their first recording with Vienna Acoustics, works by Mozart and Schubert.[45] | |
| |||
| Piano Duo Liva-Stregapede | They play unusual repertoire such as Saint-Saëns' 2-piano arrangement of Liszt's Sonata in B minor, and Shostakovich's arrangement of Honegger's Symphony No. 3; performed world premieres of works by Ástor Piazzolla, unpublished versions for 2 pianos and a version for piano duo by Casella of Beethoven's 9 symphonies, and Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony.[46] | |
| Sviatoslav Richter and Vassili Lobanov | [47] | |
| LP Piano Duo | [1] | |
| Christine and Beatrice Long | [4] | |
| Longford-Brown Piano Duo | [1] | |
| Whittemore and Lowe | [48] | |
| Luboshutz and Nemenoff | [49][50] | |
| [51] | ||
seen in either order | |||
[52] | |||
| Igor and Olga Machlak | [53] | |
| [4] | ||
| Ralph Markham & Kenneth Broadway | Managed by Columbia Artists Management Inc. from 1986 - 1995 and by IAG from 1995 - 1998, [[Ralph Markham & Kenneth Broadway recorded the Concerto In C Major For Two Pianos And Orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams with Sir Yehudi Menuhin conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for Virgin Classics, and Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra conducted by Yoel Levi for Telarc Records.
The artists toured Europe and North America, including as orchestral soloists with the Philharmonia Hungarica in performances of concertos by Francis Poulenc and Mozart at Lincoln Centre and the Kennedy Centre. The duo made their Town Hall debut in March, 1988, reviewed by Alan Kozinn in the New York Times [54] Kozinn wrote: "More overtly dazzling were the three scenes from Stravinsky's Petrouchka, Lutoslawski's sardonic, richly harmonized variations on Paganini's 24th Caprice, and Liszt's thundering Don Juan Fantasy, while the Chopin Rondo (Op. 73) and the Schubert Fantasia (D. 940) let them indulge in a more intimate kind of music-making that, in this performance, was alternately tender and steamy. "Mr. Markham and Mr. Broadway covered all this ground with an unfailing sense of style, a feeling for texture and color, and an ensemble sound that, depending on the demands of the work, was either rock solid or had the fluidity of a lively dialogue." | |
Nettle & Markham | In 1985 they gave the UK premiere of Max Bruch's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in A flat minor (with Sir Charles Groves and the Hallé Orchestra) and they were the first duo to give concert performances of The Planets in Holst's own two-piano version. | ||
Marlowe Brothers | |||
Guy Meier
Lee Pattison | Meier & Pattison | In 1924 they gave the American premiere of Leo Sowerby's Ballade for Two Pianos and Orchestra ("King Estmere") with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Albert Coates at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Sowerby also made a 2-piano version of the first of his two Paul Whiteman Orchestra commissions, Synconata, for the duo, as well as his Graingeresque Fisherman's Tune. | |
The first duo to record the entire works for piano duo/duet by Mozart. | |||
| Morel-Nemish Duo | [23][55] | |
| [24] | ||
| [56] | ||
The twin-sister piano duo are graduates of the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music, where they were each awarded the Festorazzi Prize. They are Steinway Artists and currently reside in New York City.[57] Christina and Michelle Naughton’s first album was released on the label ORFEO in 2012.[58] | |||
Nelson and Neal | |||
seen in either order | |||
| [4] | ||
Anthony & Joseph Paratore | William Bolcom wrote his Sonata in One Movement for them; they premiered Alban Berg's transcription of Arnold Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony, Op. 9; Dave Brubeck entrusted his original two-piano music to them and they premiered his "Points on Jazz". | ||
Pekinel sisters or Güher and Süher Pekinel | |||
| Mary and Geraldine Peppin | They were identical twins, born 30 December 1912 in Somerset. Premieres included Stanley Bate's Three Pieces for Two Pianos, Arnold Cooke's Sonata for Two Pianos, Peter Racine Fricker's Concertante for Three Pianos (with additional pianist Kyla Greenbaum),[59] Constant Lambert's Trois Pieces Negres, Humphrey Searle's Gold Coast Customs and Bernard Stevens' Introduction and Allegro. | |
| Irina and Maxim | [29] | |
Rostal and Schaefer | [60] | ||
| Schnabel formed this duo after the death of his first duo partner, his wife Helen Fogel (see Helen Fogel, Karl-Ulrich Schnabel) | ||
| [4] | ||
| Pas de Duo | [61] | |
| Susanne and Dinis Schemann | [4] | |
Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick | Malcolm Arnold, Lennox Berkeley, Arthur Bliss, Gordon Jacob and Ralph Vaughan Williams all wrote concertos for them. | ||
| Trenkner-Speidel Piano Duo | They have made world premiere CD recordings of Max Reger's arrangements of Bach's works.[62] | |
| Stenzl Piano Duo | [24] | |
| Tengstrand-Sun Piano Duo | [4][63] | |
Rose and Ottilie Sutro | The Sutro sisters have been described as "the world's first recognised duo-piano team", but Willi and Louis Thern preceded them by almost 30 years. Max Bruch wrote his Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in A flat minor for them, but they never played it in its original form. | ||
| Teltschik Brothers | ||
Willi and Louis Thern | Appeared in Europe from 1866. | ||
| Trimble Sisters | Arthur Benjamin wrote his best-known work, Jamaican Rhumba, for them.[42] | |
| Duo Turgeon | [16][64] | |
| Duo Petrof | [65][66] | |
| Piano Duo Varshavski and Shapiro | [15] | |
| [29] | ||
| Duo Zheleznov | [41] |
References
- "The Dranoff International Two Piano Foundation - 2008 Participating Teams". 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Alan Hovhaness - Symphonies Nos. 31-45". Hovhaness.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Duopianists". Pianowomen.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 1995 Winners". Dranoff2piano.org. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- Holl, Bernard (6 June 1982). "PIANO: BRADSHAW-BUONO DUO". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- Ashley, Tim (9 November 2007). "CD: Liszt: Dante Symphony; Dante Sonata, Franz Liszt Piano Duo/ Hungarian Radio Children's Choir/Thesz". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Naxos Classical Music - Naxos Album Reviews". Naxos.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Great Pianists of the 20th Century: Lyubov Bruk and Mark Taimanov". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Divine Art". Divine-art.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "US". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Goldstone&Clemmow". Divine-art.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Richard and John CONTIGUGLIA, Duo Pianists". Duopianistscontiguglia.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions". Answers.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 2005 Winners". Dranoff2piano.org. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 1997 Winners". Dranoff2piano.org. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Musicians Gallery". Musiciansgallery.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "BLOOMLINE.NETwork of Independent Artists". Bloomline.net. Archived from the original on 6 November 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Culturenet.hr - Dubravka Vukalovic and Bruno Vlahek in Berlin and Lausanne". Culturenet.hr. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 1993 Winners". Dranoff2piano.org. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 2001 Winners". Dranoff2piano.org. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "DAS KLAVIERDUO UTE GAREIS & KLAUS-GEORG POHL". Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
- "The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 1987 Winners". Dranoff2piano.org. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 1989 Winners". Dranoff2piano.org. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "eClassical.com High Resolution FLAC & MP3 Classical Music Download Store". Eclassical.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna da (13 June 2012). "Eliminating the Competition". Wsj.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Information on the work and the recording". Retrieved January 5, 2013.
- "New Album Release in September 2014". Archived from the original on 2014-11-06. Retrieved 2014-11-06.
- "The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 2008 Winners". Dranoff2piano.org. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "CD by ODU's Invencia Piano Duo Highlights Works of French Composer (Thursday, September 13, 2012) InsideODU - News for Faculty and Staff at Old Dominion University". 29 October 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "ODU Invencia Piano Duo Recording Praised in International Reviews". Blue.odu.edu. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Invencia Piano Duo". Archived from the original on 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2013-05-24.
- Campbell, John. "Invencia Piano Duo". Artsongupdate.org. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Classical Net - The Classical Explorer". Classical.net. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions". Answers.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary". TheFreeDictionary.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "1967 on - Kontarsky Brothers Alois and Alfons, German Piano duo". classicalmusicianstoza.blogspot.ca. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 1999 Winners". Dranoff2piano.org. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Kotlyar - Shifrin Piano Duo". Archived from the original on 2008-07-21. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
- "The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 1991 Winners". Dranoff2piano.org. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- Day, Colin F. "Pianists 3". Colindaylinks.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Künstler". Chopin.at. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Music of Joe Giarrusso - Waring International Piano Competition". Vwipc.org. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "♫ "The Latsos" Perform Mozart and Schubert - Giorgi Latso". Store.cdbaby.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Liva-Stregapede". Pianistmichelangelo.com. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Bartok, Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra, Stephane Lemelin, Andrew Tunis (pianos); Kenneth Simpson, Jonathan Wade (percussion), Ottawa Symphony Orchestra/David Currie, Ottawa, January 24, 2005 (BB)". Musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Arthur Whittemore, 69, Dies; Member of Two-Piano Team". Nytimes.com. 26 October 1984. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- Bruil, Rudolf A. "Pierre LUBOSHUTZ and Genia NEMENOFF duo-pianists: Mozart, Reger, Falla, Saint-Saëns on Remington". Soundfountain.org. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Luboshutz and Nemenoff, American Piano Duo". Classicalmusicianstoza.blogspot.ca. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Brenda Lucas Ogdon piano - Recordings". Brendalucasogdon.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- Rae, Charles Bodman (21 November 1999). The Music of Lutosławski. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780711969100. Retrieved 21 November 2017 – via Google Books.
- "November Concert - A Family Affair - Piano for One, Two, Four and Six Hands". Concert Programme. Lyrebird Music Society. 6 November 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-12-19. Retrieved 2019-12-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Métras, Claire. "Morel-Nemish Duo". Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- "Chamber Music Vol. 8". Amazon.ca. 19 November 1996. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "WSJ". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Biography". Archived from the original on 2014-09-30. Retrieved 2014-09-24.
- 'London Concerts', in The Musical TimesVol. 93, No. 1311 (May, 1952), p. 223
- Page, Tim (21 September 1984). "MUSIC: ROSTAL AND SCHAEFER". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Piano duo's Arkadelphia visit encourages music education awareness - OBU News". Media.obu.edu. 3 April 2009. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Orchestral Suites Max Reger arrangement for Piano Duo by Trenkner-Speidel Piano Duo at jsbach.org". Jsbach.org. Archived from the original on 29 November 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 2003 Winners". Dranoff2piano.org. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "Music & Nightlife". Timeoutsingapore.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "The Winner of 2009 International Web Concert Hall Competition". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
- "Vlada Vassilieva and Anatoly Zatin". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-13.