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The Israeli pianist Yaara Tal and her German partner Andreas Groethuysen are one of the world´s leading piano duos. Since 1985 they have performed regularly at such prominent venues as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Philharmonies Berlin, Cologne and Munich, Teatro alla Scala Milano, Musikhalle Hamburg, Hongkong Arts Festival, Frick Collection New York, Forbidden City Concert Hall Peking, Piano-Festival La Roque d´Anthéron, Salzburger Festspiele, Musikverein Vienna, Tonhalle Zürich - to name only a few.
Besides an unsurpassed homogenity and spontanity in their playing, the duo displays great creativity in their recital programmes which feature unjustly neglected musical treasures in addition to the standard repertoire.
The exclusive cooperation with the record company Sony Classical makes up an important part of their international success: The Duo Tal & Groethuysen has released numerous recordings of piano music for four hands (largely world première recordings e.g. of pieces by Carl Czerny, Reinhard Febel, Theodore Gouvy, Charles Koechlin, Felix Mendelssohn, Max Reger, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner) which have brought them great acclaim from critics and the public alike.
Their CD's have won the coveted “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik” no less than seven times, while the German Phono Academy has awarded its “Echo Klassik”-Prize to four of their recordings, including the complete recordings of Schubert´s music for four hands and the complete Mozart piano duos. Other awards from outside Germany, such as the “Cannes Classical Award“,“Editor´s Choice“ by Gramophone and the “Supersonic Award“ reflect their high international reputation. The recordings are praised for their programmatic ingenuity as well as their pianistic transparency and the brightness of the duo's interpretations.
In 2009 the Duo has released two further discs, first F. Mendelssohn´s Octet Op. 20 and his 1st Symphony in the composer´s own four-hand piano transcriptions, and J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) in a two-piano version by Josef Rheinberger. |
