For our opening concert of the 2023-24 season, we welcome back David Nettle and Richard Markham for a piano duo recital performed on their fascinating Pleyel double piano.
SAINT-SAENS
Duettino, Op.11
SAINT-SAENS
Variations on a theme by Beethoven, Op.35
DEBUSSY
Prélude, Cortège & Air de Danse (L’Enfant Prodigue)
SAINT-SAENS
Caprice Héroïque, Op.106
SAINT-SAENS
Polonaise, Op.77
SAINT-SAENS
Caprice Arabe, Op.96
RAVEL
Habanera
POULENC
L’Embarquement pour Cythère
SAINT-SAENS
Scherzo, Op.87
David Nettle & Richard Markham are now celebrating 46 years of their piano duo partnership. They are one of a handful of international ensembles whose dedication and commitment have stood the test of time and, as such, bring a special kind of expertise and experience to the concert platform. Within a few years the duo had become well established and since then concert, festival, radio and TV appearances have formed the core of their performance schedule. Their varied recital and concerto performances encompass not only standard repertoire but also neglected or lesser known works, and they have commissioned major new compositions for four hands as well making their own original, virtuoso two-piano arrangements and transcriptions.
The Pleyel Double Piano
David & Richard are unique in owning one of the very few remaining Pleyel Double Pianos, stored in their unusual railway arch studio. It was the rather extravagant whim of the Parisian firm of Pleyel, whose instruments were the favourites of composer/pianists such as Chopin, Grieg, Debussy, Saint-Saëns and Stravinsky. The company’s success led them to invest in experiments, resulting in 1890 with a Double Piano and later with their version of the Pianola.
Pleyel manufactured a small number of Double Pianos in the 1890s, but their own Double Piano is one of only a handful of larger “concert” models which Pleyel made in the 1920s; it is therefore very much a “modern” piano and the same age as the two Steinways in their London studio. It was purchased in 1993 from a private owner in Paris, having originally been housed in the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
The instrument can be best described as two overstrung pianos in one rectangular case, with a keyboard at each end, a combined soundboard and one large lid to reflect the sound of both pianos to the audience.
Not only does a double piano ensure that the sound and response of the two instruments are exceptionally closely matched, but subtle resonance effects can be produced which are impossible to obtain using two separate instruments.
Discover more: www.nettleandmarkham.com
Event Details:
Event Venue:
Adult – 26 years and older | £20.00 | ||
Junior – Under 26 | £0.00 | ||
Season Ticket (all concerts) | £85.00 |