MOZART & SCHUMANN recordings of lesser performed Spanish repertoire including Arriaga ’ s orchestral pieces , works by Albéniz , Montsalvatge and Turina , and three discs of works by Manuel de Falla featuring his opera La Vida Breve . Mena recorded Messiaen ’ s Turangalîla Symphony with the Bergen Philharmonic for the Hyperion label , a disc said to “ utterly redefine the terms under which past / current / future Turangalîlas need to be judged ” ( Gramophone ).
Lucas and Arthur Jussen
Lucas and Arthur Jussen are among the most sought-after piano duos of our time . They are praised vigorously by press and audiences alike . ‘ It is like driving a pair of BMWs ’, exclaimed conductor Michael Schønwandt about the two pianists after directing them in concert .
The Jussen brothers have performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and The Philadelphia Orchestra , Concertgebouworkest , Budapest
Lucas and Arthur Jussen
Festival Orchestra , NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester , the Academy of St Martin in the Fields , as well as the Montréal , Sydney , Singapore and Shanghai Symphony Orchestras . They collaborate with the likes of renowned conductors such as Andris Nelsons , Christoph Eschenbach , Iván Fischer , Sir Neville Marriner , Yannick Nézet-Séguin , Jukka- Pekka Saraste and Jaap van Zweden .
Recording exclusively with Deutsche Grammophon since 2010 , their debut
Marco Borggreve recording with works by Beethoven received platinum status and was awarded the Edison Klassiek audience award . The latest addition to their discography is ‘ Dutch Masters ’ ( April 2022 ) which is devoted to works by Dutch composers , in collaboration with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra , among others . The recording was awarded an Edison Klassiek , as well as the audience award .
Lucas and Arthur received their first piano lessons in their native town of Hilversum . As children , they were invited to perform for the Dutch Queen Beatrix . Then distinctions and awards in competitions followed . In 2005 , the brothers met the Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires . During the following years they took lessons from both Pires and renowned Dutch teachers . Lucas completed his studies with Menahem Pressler in the U . S . and with Dmitri Bashkirov in Madrid . Arthur graduated from the Amsterdam Conservatory , where he studied with Jan Wijn .
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM by Jacob Jahiel
Louise Farrenc
Born May 31 , 1804 in Paris , France ; Died September 15 , 1875 in Paris , France
OVERTURE NO . 2 IN E-FLAT MAJOR , OP . 24 [ 1834 ]
Long overdue , it is only recently that the works and legacy of Louise Farrenc — the celebrated 19th-century French pianist , pedagogue , and composer — have re-emerged in today ’ s concert spaces . As a performer , Farrenc enjoyed significant acclaim across Europe . As a piano pedagogue , she held a three-decade-long professorship at the esteemed Conservatoire de Paris ( the only such posting to be held by a woman during that century ). And as a composer , Farrenc earned both praise and occasional jealous
condescension from the likes of Robert Schumann and Hector Berlioz .
Farrenc is hardly alone in a long list of accomplished women who , while contending with a complex web of 19thcentury class and gender politics , proved that their talent as composers equaled that of their male counterparts , even if their fame did not . Yet , by contributing to the orchestral repertoire — three symphonies and two concert overtures — Farrenc perhaps represents an even more exceptional case . The genres associated with symphony orchestras were generally considered to be the domain of men ; women , by contrast , were expected to limit themselves to more intimate works requiring smaller forces and scale , namely chamber music and songs . Farrenc , therefore , challenged norms that more well-known contemporaries like Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann did not .
Composed in 1834 , Farrenc ’ s Overture No . 2 in E-flat hearkens back to the Classical style of Haydn and Mozart with its symmetrical phrases and hallmark elegance , yet it is also imbued by her own thematic ingenuity and intuitive sense for orchestration . Exuding energy , drama , and verve , the concert overture offers vivid contrasts in color and timbre , as well as a slew of unexpected harmonic changes that generate constant interest . It is a piece as worthy of the great halls of 19th-century Paris as it is the great halls of today .
Instrumentation : Two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons , four horns , two trumpets , three trombones , timpani , and strings .
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