List of classical piano duos (performers)

The term piano duo can refer both to a genre of music, written for two pianists to play at either one or two pianos, or to the two pianists themselves.

This is a list of notable performers who appeared as piano duos in classical music. Most of these pianists performed works for piano four-hands (two pianists at one piano; also known as piano duet) as well as works for two pianos, often with orchestras or chamber ensembles. Some of these teams focussed exclusively or predominantly on this repertoire, but some also appeared separately as solo pianists.

Some piano duos appear under a single name (such as the Long Island Piano Duo), or a unified name (such as Nettle & Markham), but the majority simply use both their names (such as Katia and Marielle Labèque or Bracha Eden and Alexander Tamir).

People in this list should not be added to List of classical pianists unless they also had significant careers as solo pianists. However, if they recorded music requiring two pianists, they should be added to List of classical pianists (recorded).

List of classical piano duos

Sorting note
The main entry is sorted by the pianist whose surname appears earlier in the alphabet, and the other pianist is cross-referenced in smaller type. Where their names are usually referred to in a different order, or they use a special name for their duo, that entry appears in the 2nd column.
Members Name of duo (where relevant) Notes and references
  • Jocelyn Abbott
  • Laura O'Gorman
 Abbott O'Gorman Duo They have recorded Ravel à Quatre Mains and Classical Jazz à Quatre Mains.[1]
  • Julie Adam
  • Daniel Herscovitch
 Made the world premiere recording of Grieg's treatment of Mozart piano sonatas (he composed an additional part for a second pianist, but did not change Mozart's original music, which is played by the first pianist).[2]
  • Saar Ahuvia
  • Stephanie Kai-Win Ho
 Stephanie and Saar Duo [3]
Alexander and Daykin [4]
  • Arthur Ancelle
  • Ludmila Berlinskaïa
 Duo Berlinskaïa-Ancelle They have recorded Tchaikovsky à Quatre Mains [5]
  • Vera Appleton
  • Michael Field
 Appleton and Field Alan Hovhaness wrote his Symphony No. 45, Op. 342 (1954) for them, but they never played it.[6]
  • Nancy Arganbright
  • Dallas Weekley
 Weekley and Arganbright [7]
seen in either order
Vronsky & Babin
  • Alexander Bakhchiev
  • Elena Sorokina
 Elena Sorokina and Alexander Bakhchiev [8]
  • Ethel Bartlett
  • Rae Robertson
 [7]
  • Aglaia Bätzner
  • Cristina Marton
 [9]
seen in either order
Bizjak Piano Duo
  • Vittorio Bresciani
  • Francesco Nicolosi
 Franz Liszt Piano Duo They have recorded Bresciani's arrangement of Liszt's Dante Sonata, and Liszt's arrangement of the Dante Symphony.[10]
  • Jeremy Brown
  • Seta Tanyel
 Recorded Poulenc's complete music for 2 pianists.[11]
seen in either order [12]
  • Antoinette Cann
  • Claire Cann
 Claire and Antoinette Cann [8]
  • Josee Caron
  • Martin Caron
 Duo Caron
seen in either order
  • Angela Cheng
  • Alvin Chow
 [8]
  • June Clark
  • Joan Ryall
 Joan Ryall and June Clark [13]
  • Caroline Clemmow
  • Anthony Goldstone
 Goldstone and Clemmow Made the world premiere recording of the two-piano arrangement of Grieg's Concerto in A minor, written by Grieg and Károly Thern. Also the first recording of Grieg's piano version of the "Homage March" from Sigurd Jorsalfar.[14] They have recorded the piano duet version of Chopin's 2nd Piano Concerto in F minor (arr. Chopin and Carl Mikuli)[15][16]
  • Mark Clinton
  • Nicole Narboni
 Clinton/Narboni Duo [8]
Richard and John Contiguglia Made the first recording of Beethoven's 9th Symphony in the two-piano transcription by Franz Liszt; revived Victor Babin's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra; gave New York premiere of Max Bruch's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in A flat minor; made many world premiere recordings of works by Liszt and Bartók.[17]
  • Stephen Coombs
  • Christopher Scott
 Coombs-Scott Piano Duo [18]
  • Simon Crawford-Phillips
  • Philip Moore
 Philip Moore and Simon Crawford-Phillips In 2008, they gave the world premiere of Detlev Glanert's Two Piano Concerto, commissioned by the duo and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and conducted by Martyn Brabbins.[19]
Duo Crommelynk They were a very prominent duo, founded in 1974; their three-disc set of the four-hand works of Schubert won a Grand Prix du Disque; many composers wrote works for them. They both died by suicide on 14 July 1994.[20][21]
  • Francesco De Stefano
  • Vincenzo De Stefano
 De Stefano Piano Duo [22]
  • Larissa Dedova
  • Mikhail Volchok
 [8]
  • Peter Degenhardt
  • Fuat Kent
 Piano Duo Degenhardt-Kent Recorded some George Crumb works under his supervision. World premiere recording of Zeitgeist (1988, rev. 1989); Six Tableau for Two Amplified Pianos was written for them. With Jovita Zähl, they made the first CD recording of Earle Brown's Corroboree (1964).[23]
  • Luis del Valle
  • Victor del Valle
 Victor and Luis del Valle [3]
[8]
Genova & Dimitrov Made world premiere recording of the complete piano duo works of Shostakovitch.[24][25]
Jordans & Van Doeselaar Piano Duo [26]
Wiener et Doucet
  • David Eaton
  • James Young
 Eaton-Young Piano Duo They have transcribed Mozart, Rimsky-Korsakov and Gilbert and Sullivan operas for piano duo, and have performed Zemlinsky's transcription of Mahler's 6th Symphony.[27]
  • Monika Egri
  • Attila Pertis
 Duo Egri and Pertis [8]
  • Irina Elkina
  • Julia Elkina
 [8][28]
  • Sebastian Euler
  • Shao-Yin Huang
 Duo d´Accord Made the premiere recording of Clara Schumann's arrangement for piano 4-hands of Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet in E flat, Op. 44.[29][30]
Ferrante & Teicher
Gold and Fizdale
Lillian and Irwin Freundlich [8]
  • Takashi Fujii
  • Yoshie Shiramizu-Fujii
 Yoshie and Takashi [3]
  • Ute Gareis
  • Klaus-Georg Pohl
 Gareis & Pohl European premiere of J.Adams "Hallelujah junction" (2000)[31]
  • Arianna Goldina
  • Remy Loumbrozo
 Goldina & Loumbrozo [32][33]
  • Eva Gomyde
  • Carlos Roberto Oliveira
 [34]
  • Nadya Gordon
  • Steven Gordon
 [8]
  • Bradford Gowen
  • Maribeth Gowen
 Maribeth and Bradford Gowen [8]
  • Andreas Grau
  • Goetz Schumacher
 Piano Duo GrauSchumacher Played the world premiere of Peter Eötvös's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, a revision of his Concerto for piano and keyboard (2005).[35]
  • Polina Grigoryeva
  • Yulia Yurchenko
 Piano Duo Vis-à-vis [3]
  • Andreas Groethuysen
  • Yaara Tal
 Duo Tal & Groethuysen [36]
  • Rosi Grunschlag
  • Toni Grunschlag
 [37]
  • Roberto Guerra
  • Margherita Malagoli
 Margherita Malagoli and Roberto Guerra [8]
  • Elena Hammel
  • Laura Sánchez
 Duo Scarbó (formerly known as Duo Hammel-Sánchez) [38][39]
Thomas Hecht and Sandra Shapiro [8][32]
  • Howard Helvey
  • Richard Steinbach
 Steinbach & Helvey [40]
  • Ákos Hernádi
  • Károly Mocsári
 Hernádi-Mocsári Piano Duo Recorded works by Bartók, including a duo-piano arrangement of The Miraculous Mandarin.[41]
  • Cara Hesse
  • Laura Pauna
 [3]
  • Norman Horowitz
  • Melvin Stecher
 Stecher and Horowitz Piano Duo [42]
Made the world premiere recording of

22 unknown original transcriptions by Sergei Rachmaninoff for piano for four hands after Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty.[43][44]

  • Martin Hrsel
  • Zdenka Kolarova
 Prague Piano Duo They have recorded Mahler's Symphony No. 1 in the transcription by Bruno Walter,[45] and the piano duet versions of Dvořák's New World Symphony and Smetana's Vltava from Má vlast.[46][47]
  • Richard Humburger
  • Valentin Humburger
 Piano Duo Humburger [48]
  • Michael Jamanis
  • Frances Veri
 Frances Veri and Michael Jamanis [8]
  • Dorothy Jonas
  • Joshua Pierce
 [8]
Jacqueline Robin and Genevieve Joy
  • Alfred Kanwischer
  • Heidi Kanwischer
 Heidi and Alfred Kanwischer [8]
Invencia Piano Duo In collaboration with Naxos Records, on its Grand Piano series, they have released four CDs of Florent Schmitt's complete duo-piano works.[49][50][51][52]
  • Raffi Kharajanyan
  • Nora Novik
 Nora and Raffi; also appear as the Riga Piano Duo [53]
  • Olga Kharitonova
  • Igor Machlak
 Igor and Olga Piano Duo [54]
Walter and Beatriz Klien
  • Christian Köhn
  • Silke-Thora Matthies
 Recorded 17 CDs of all Brahms's arrangements for piano 4-hands or 2 pianos (mostly of his own music, but including Schumann's Piano Quintet in E flat.[55]
seen in either order They have given first performances of works by Luciano Berio, Sylvano Bussotti, Mauricio Kagel, Karlheinz Stockhausen,[56] Henri Pousseur, Luis de Pablo and Bernd Alois Zimmermann.[57][58]
  • Irina Kotlyar
  • Gregory Shifrin
 Kotlyar-Shifrin Piano Duo [59][60]
  • Mina Kusumoto
  • Laurie Kono Merchant
 Koshka Piano Duo [61]
  • Aleksei Kuznetsoff
  • Valentina Lisitsa
 Valentina Lisista and Alexei Kuznetsoff [8][62]
  • Carles Lama
  • Sofia Cabruja
 Carles and Sofia piano duo
Rawicz and Landauer Played mainly light classics and arrangements of existing works.[63]
  • John Lavender
  • Penelope Thwaites
 Thwaites and Lavender [64]
  • Matteo Liva
  • Michelangelo Stregapede
 Piano Duo Liva-Stregapede They play unusual repertoire such as Saint-Saëns' 2-piano arrangement of Liszt's Sonata in B minor, and Shostakovich's arrangement of Honegger's Symphony No. 3; performed world premieres of works by Ástor Piazzolla, unpublished versions for 2 pianos and a version for piano duo by Casella of Beethoven's 9 symphonies, and Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony.[65]
Sviatoslav Richter and Vassili Lobanov [66]
  • Sonja Lončar
  • Andrija Pavlović
 LP Piano Duo [3]
  • Beatrice Long
  • Christine Long
 Christine and Beatrice Long [8]
  • James Longford
  • Lindy Tennent-Brown
 Longford-Brown Piano Duo [3]
  • Jack Lowe
  • Arthur Austin Whittemore
 Whittemore and Lowe [67]
  • Pierre Luboshutz
  • Genia Nemenoff
 Luboshutz and Nemenoff [68][69]
[70]
seen in either order
[71]
  • Luis Magalhaes
  • Nina Schumann
 Magalhaes and Schumann Piano Duo [8]
  • Margarita Malinova
  • Olga Malinova
 [8]
Nettle & Markham In 1985 they gave the UK premiere of Max Bruch's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in A flat minor (with Sir Charles Groves and the Hallé Orchestra) and they were the first duo to give concert performances of The Planets in Holst's own two-piano version.[72][73]
Marlowe Brothers
  • Tetsu Mashiko
  • Masaki Nishihara
 Tetsu and Masaki [74]
The first duo to record the entire works for piano duo/duet by Mozart.
  • Dominique Morel
  • Douglas Nemish
 Morel-Nemish Duo [32][75]
  • Anne-Marie Mot
  • Monique Mot
 [33]
  • Begonia Uriarte Mrongovius

  • Karl-Hermann Mrongovius
 [76]
The twin-sister piano duo are graduates of the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music, where they were each awarded the Festorazzi Prize. They are Steinway Artists and currently reside in New York City.[77] Christina and Michelle Naughton’s first album was released on the label ORFEO in 2012.[78]
Nelson and Neal
seen in either order
  • Ferhan Önder
  • Ferzan Önder
 [8]
  • Anthony Paratore
  • Joseph Paratore
 Anthony & Joseph Paratore William Bolcom wrote his Sonata in One Movement for them; they premiered Alban Berg's transcription of Arnold Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony, Op. 9; Dave Brubeck entrusted his original two-piano music to them and they premiered his "Points on Jazz".[79]
Pekinel sisters or Güher and Süher Pekinel
Piano 4 Hands
  • see: Waka Hasegawa
  • Joseph Tong
  • Henri Piette
  • Janine Reding
 Reding and Piette [80]
  • Maxim Puryzhinskiy
  • Irina Silivanova
 Irina and Maxim [48][81]
  • Mikhail Ralenko
  • Lilia Valeva
 Claviraum Piano Duo They specialise in arrangements for two pianos by Ralenko, such as Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.[82]
  • Peter Rostal
  • Paul Schaefer
 Rostal and Schaefer [83]
Schnabel formed this duo after the death of his first duo partner, his wife Helen Fogel (see Helen Fogel, Karl-Ulrich Schnabel)
  • Milton Salkind
  • Peggy Salkind
 [8]
  • Naomi Sanchez
  • Stephen Varney
 Pas de Duo [84]
  • Dinis Schemann
  • Susanne Schemann
 Susanne and Dinis Schemann [8]
Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick Malcolm Arnold, Lennox Berkeley, Arthur Bliss, Gordon Jacob and Ralph Vaughan Williams all wrote concertos for them.
  • Sontraud Speidel
  • Evelinde Trenkner
 Trenkner-Speidel Piano Duo They have made world premiere CD recordings of Max Reger's arrangements of Bach's works.[85]
  • Hans-Peter Stenzl
  • Volker Stenzl
 Stenzl Piano Duo [33]
  • Vely (Velislava) Stoyanova
  • Ilia Tosheff
 Tosheff Piano Duo [86]
  • Shan-shan Sun
  • Per Tengstrand
 Tengstrand-Sun Piano Duo [8][87]
Rose and Ottilie Sutro The Sutro sisters have been described as "the world's first recognised duo-piano team", but Willi and Louis Thern preceded them by almost 30 years. Max Bruch wrote his Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in A flat minor for them, but they never played it in its original form.
Teltschik Brothers
Willi and Louis Thern Appeared in Europe from 1866.
  • Evelinde Trenkner
  • Silvia Zenker
 Piano Duo Zenker-Trenkner Recorded Mahler's symphonies Nos. 6 (in the Zemlinsky arrangement) and 7 (in the Casella arrangement).[88]
  • Joan Trimble
  • Valerie Trimble
 Trimble Sisters Arthur Benjamin wrote his best-known work, Jamaican Rhumba, for them.[63]
  • Anne-Louise Turgeon
  • Edward Turgeon
 Duo Turgeon [24][89]
Duo Petrof [90][91][92]
  • Susan Wang
  • Sarah Wang
 [48]
  • Irina Zheleznov
  • Maxim Zheleznov
 Duo Zheleznov [62]

References

  1. ↑ The Abbott O'Gorman Duo
  2. ↑ Sydney Conservatorium of Music
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 http://www.dranoff2piano.org/2008_teams.htm
  4. ↑ http://www.juilliard.edu/update/journal/j_articles728.html
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ hovhaness.com
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://gustavus.edu/quarterly/estherwilliams/page5.php
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 8.18 8.19 8.20 8.21 8.22 8.23 Duopianists
  9. ↑ The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 1995 Winners
  10. ↑ Guardian
  11. ↑ Brown/Tanyel
  12. ↑ Great Pianists of the 20th Century: Lyubov Bruk and Mark Taimanov by Philips, Lyubov Bruk | 28945673622 | CD | Barnes & Noble
  13. ↑ Charlemagne music/About us/Joan Ryall and June Clark
  14. ↑ Divine Art
  15. ↑
  16. ↑ Goldstone&Clemmow
  17. ↑ Contiguglias
  18. ↑ Stephen Coombs (piano) - Artist - Hyperion Records
  19. ↑ Moore/Crawford-Phillips
  20. ↑ Answers.com
  21. ↑ Pianowomen
  22. ↑ The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 2005 Winners
  23. ↑ Degenhardt/Kent
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 1997 Winners
  25. ↑ Musicians Gallery
  26. ↑ http://www.bloomline.net/sites/biography.php?site=asd-pianoduo
  27. ↑ Eaton-Young
  28. ↑ The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 1993 Winners
  29. ↑ Oehms classics
  30. ↑ The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 2001 Winners
  31. ↑ http://www.kultbau.org/gareispohl.html
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 1987 Winners
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 1989 Winners
  34. ↑ http://www.pianoduo.com.br/portal/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
  35. ↑ karstenwittmusikmanagement
  36. ↑ Piano-Duo Yaara Tal & Andreas Groethuysen | offizielle Homepage
  37. ↑ Grunschlag
  38. ↑ http://www.concertartist.info/bios/duohammel.html
  39. ↑ Piano duo - Duo Scarbó - Duo biography
  40. ↑ http://www.concertartists.com/S+H.html
  41. ↑ eclassical
  42. ↑ The New York International Piano Competition | Eliminating the Competition | By Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim - WSJ.com
  43. ↑ "Information on the work and the recording". Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  44. ↑ Discographie
  45. ↑ Classics Today
  46. ↑ Prague Piano Duo
  47. ↑ Prague Piano Duo
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 48.2 The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 2008 Winners
  49. ↑ CD by ODU's Invencia Piano Duo Highlights Works of French Composer
  50. ↑ ODU Invencia Piano Duo Recording Praised in International Reviews
  51. ↑ Invencia Piano Duo
  52. ↑ Invencia Piano Duo
  53. ↑ Riga Piano Duo
  54. ↑ Igor and Olga Piano Duo - Australian recordings, performances
  55. ↑ Classical net
  56. ↑ Answers.com
  57. ↑ The Free Dictionary: Kontarsky, Aloys
  58. ↑ Kontarsky Brothers tour Southern Africa 1967
  59. ↑ The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 1999 Winners
  60. ↑ http://www.musiciansgallery.com/start/chamber/kotlyar/shifrin_piano_duo.htm
  61. ↑ http://www.yamaha.com/yasi/eventdetail.html?CNTID=5028940&CTID=560264
  62. ↑ 62.0 62.1 The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 1991 Winners
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 Pianists Part 3
  64. ↑ https://www.qtix.com.au/show/kawai_thwaites_Lavender_09.aspx
  65. ↑ Liva-Stregapede
  66. ↑ Bartok, Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra, Stephane Lemelin, Andrew Tunis (pianos); Kenneth Simpson, Jonathan Wade (percussion), Ottawa Symphony Orchestra/Davi...
  67. ↑ Arthur Whittemore, 69, Dies - Member of Two-Piano Team - NYTimes.com
  68. ↑ Pierre LUBOSHUTZ and Genia NEMENOFF duo-pianists: Mozart, Reger, Falla, Saint-Saëns on Remington
  69. ↑ Luboshutz and Nemenoff tour Southern Africa 1957
  70. ↑ Brenda Lucas Ogdon piano - Recordings
  71. ↑ Charles Bodman Rae, The Music of Lutoslawski
  72. ↑ Nettle/Markham
  73. ↑ Nettle/Markham
  74. ↑ More Mashiko & Nishihara CDs
  75. ↑ Morel-Nemish Duo - The Canadian Encyclopedia
  76. ↑ Chamber Music Vol. 8: Amazon.ca: Music
  77. ↑ http://online.wsj.com/articles/christina-and-michelle-naughton-twin-pianists-perform-at-naumburg-orchestral-concerts-1407173152
  78. ↑ http://www.christinaandmichellenaughton.com/biography/
  79. ↑ Paratores
  80. ↑ http://pianistes.ifrance.com/Reding.htm
  81. ↑ biography
  82. ↑ Claviraum
  83. ↑ Music - Rostal And Schaefer - Nytimes.Com
  84. ↑ Piano duo’s Arkadelphia visit encourages music education awareness « OBU News
  85. ↑ Orchestral Suites Max Reger arrangement for Piano Duo by Trenkner-Speidel Piano Duo at jsbach.org
  86. ↑ Kennedy Center: Millennium Stage Search Results for Classical Music
  87. ↑ The Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation: 2003 Winners
  88. ↑ ArkivMusik
  89. ↑ TimeOut: Singapore
  90. ↑ http://www.duopetrof.com/english.html
  91. ↑ http://www.webconcerthall.com/interview/petrof.htm
  92. ↑ http://aysymphony.org/about-ays/duo-petrof/