Martinborough Music Festival 23-25 September, Martinborough Town Hall
“No-one really understands what being a concert pianist is like except another concert pianist. So, playing a duo or duet is the thing I love to do most in the world” Diedre Irons.
Diedre is speaking of her love for playing Piano Duos and Duets. She will be opening the Martinborough Music Festival (MMF) this year performing a Piano Duo and Duets with Michael Houstoun.
Piano Duo is generally described as 4 hands, two pianos and Piano Duets as 4 hands, one piano. The two grand pianos Diedre and Michael will play are the MMF Trust Schimmel and a Yamaha on loan to the MMF by local artist and pianist, Stephen Allwood.
Two piano music sounds more orchestral than the duet for a single piano because the pianists for a single piano are mostly playing half a keyboard each. Compositions for two pianos use the full keyboards of both pianos. Thus, there is a fuller more symphonic sound.
Composers reduced symphonic works to be played as piano duos or duets. Diedre says “there are duet versions of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and others because there were no recordings in those days and orchestras were not easy to get to for most people. So that is how music lovers got to hear those works when they were new. You learn a million notes then get together with your duo partner and voila! There are two million notes. Exhilarating!”
Playing Duos and Duets has many challenges not the least of which is keeping together precisely while at the same time working towards flexibility and finding appropriate balance among the hands. For Diedre, choosing a duo/duet partner has been “largely a matter of friendship and compatibility. Playing precisely together needs exactness; the hammer hits the string and it’s either together with the other piano or not. A shared underlying sense of pulse is essential, in no way metronomic, but more like a heartbeat. Thoroughly learning your part before the first rehearsal is a matter of courtesy”. Diedre says, “both four handed duets and duo parts are equally difficult”. Playing duets sitting side by side does give the advantage of being able to see one another’s scores.
Diedre Irons and Michael Houstoun have played together many times. Diedre says “placing the pianos side by side works well because communication is easier. The other option is nestling the curved sides of the pianos together and using head nodding and eyebrow twitching across a vast expanse of black, gold, and red”.
Piano 2 (stage right from the audience) loses its lid because otherwise the sound travels away from the audience. Diedre and Michael divide playing primo/secondo parts of duets or Piano 1/Piano2 duos equally.
Mozart loved piano duets. He composed, taught, and performed them throughout his life. He also wrote duos. Two pianists performing on two separate pianos together in the same concert is relatively rare. Diedre Irons and Michael Houstoun are performing Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major K448. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear these two national piano treasures playing separate pianos together.
Tickets are available via the website at www.martinboroughmusicfestival.co.nz …
