Duo Pleyel in the Bösendorfer Series: Richard Egarr & Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya
Duo Pleyel may be the odd one out here. Renowned conductor and pianist Richard Egarr, along with his wife, pianist Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya, are extremely adept at playing period instruments, especially fortepianos by Pleyel and Erard. However, on Thursday 15 February, the well-known duo de Bösendorfer will take wing - their delicate hands - in a French, impressionistic programme. The evening starts quietly with Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, originally for orchestra but arranged for four hands by contemporary Ravel. Ravel originally composed his suite Ma Mère L'oye for two children from his circle of friends who both played the piano and orchestrated it a year later. After the intermission we hear Fauré's Dolly Suite, written for the daughter of his mistress. The same woman, incidentally, whom Debussy later married. Ending with Debussy's Petite Suite, this evening full of French salon music has come full circle at the Waalse Kerk.