Bruch: Concerto for 2 Pianos, Op. 88a & Suite No. 1 on Russian Themes, Op. 79b (Live) Staatskapelle Halle & Ariane Matiakh

• Max Bruch (1838 - 1920): Concerto for 2 Pianos in A-Flat Minor, Op. 88a:
• 1 Concerto for 2 Pianos in A-Flat Minor, Op. 88a: I. Andante sostenuto (Live) 05:37
• 2 Concerto for 2 Pianos in A-Flat Minor, Op. 88a: II. Andante con moto - Allegro molto vivace (Live) 06:33
• 3 Concerto for 2 Pianos in A-Flat Minor, Op. 88a: III. Adagio ma non troppo (Live) 07:30
• 4 Concerto for 2 Pianos in A-Flat Minor, Op. 88a: IV. Andante - Allegro (Live) 08:14
• Suite No. 1 on Russian Themes, Op. 79b:
• 5 Suite No. 1 on Russian Themes, Op. 79b: I. Andante sostenuto (Live) 03:01
• 6 Suite No. 1 on Russian Themes, Op. 79b: II. Adagio, ma non troppo lento - Vivace (Live) 04:07
• 7 Suite No. 1 on Russian Themes, Op. 79b: III. Dance. Vivace ma non troppo (Live) 03:02
• 8 Suite No. 1 on Russian Themes, Op. 79b: IV. Adagio sostenuto (Live) 06:05
• 9 Suite No. 1 on Russian Themes, Op. 79b: V. Allegro energico, ma non troppo (Live) 03:32
• Total Runtime 47:41

Info for Bruch: Concerto for 2 Pianos, Op. 88a & Suite No. 1 on Russian Themes, Op. 79b (Live)

100 years ago the composer Max Bruch died. His remarkably long life of 82 years covered a period in contemporary history that was determined by scientific progress and comprehensive industrialization, developments that also found expression in art. Shortly after the turn of the century the scandals concerning the compositions by Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg were already rocking the musical world, however, Bruch met the tide of events as stoically as a rock: conservative, patriotic and above all unconditionally beholden to Romanticism in music. The present program was recorded during a Max Bruch Jubilee Concert in Halle and focused besides the famous Suite on Russian Themes also on the rarely performed Concerto for 2 pianos and orchestra.

Mona Bard, piano
Rica Bard, piano
Staatskapelle Halle
Ariane Matiakh, conductor

Mona & Rica Bard
already started playing together in their childhood and have been playing piano four hands and at two pianos ever since. In addition to their studies with the piano duo Hans- Peter and Volker Stenzl, they have drawn important artistic inspiration from their work with the duo Yaara Tal/Andreas Groethuysen as well as from Katia Labèque, Leonard Hokanson, Konstanze Eickhorst and Alfons Kontarsky.

The Duo won national and international awards (e.g. German Music Competition, Twenty Fingers Rome) and was accepted in the National Selection of Young Artists’ Concerts of the German Music Council (Deutscher Musikrat) and in the artists’ roster of the association Yehudi Menuhin – Live Music Now.

A considerable number of recitals lead Mona & Rica Bard throughout Europe, to Asia and the USA, to renowned festivals such as the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the NCPA May Festival in Beijing and the Chicago Piano Duo Festival. Orchestral engagements include appearances with Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Gürzenich Kammerorchester, Nationaltheater-Orchester Mannheim, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester, Duisburger and Heidelberger Philharmoniker. Among their musical partners, the sisters count the percussionists of the Berlin Philharmonic, Li Biao, KrausFrink Percussion, the jazz pianist and composer Uri Caine as well as the conductors Ariane Matiakh and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Numerous concert, radio and television recordings document the artistic versatility of the duo. In 2012 the Piano Duo Mona & Rica Bard recorded their debut album PAS DE DEUX (audite/Deutschlandradio Kultur) with French music for piano duo, receiving outstanding acclaim by the international music press.

In April 2015, the label Capriccio released the sisters` second album: together with Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz under the baton of French conductor Ariane Matiakh they recorded the concertos for two pianos and orchestra by Francis Poulenc and Jean Françaix (the latter as first CD recording ever since the composer`s own LP recording in 1967).

Booklet for Bruch: Concerto for 2 Pianos, Op. 88a & Suite No. 1 on Russian Themes, Op. 79b (Live)