UMM In The News Russian duo Pianists Extraordinaire to Perform. Russian pianists, ValentinaLisitsa and alexei kuznetsoff, virtually exploded onto the American musical http://www.mrs.umn.edu/news/00stories/archives/2000/pianists101100.shtml
Extractions: Russian Duo Pianists "Extraordinaire" to Perform Russian pianists, Valentina Lisitsa and Alexei Kuznetsoff, "virtually exploded onto the American musical scene in their formal U.S. debut." The husband and wife "duo extraordinaire" have won every major competition for two pianos worldwide. Lisitsa and Kuznetsoff will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, in Recital Hall of the Humanities Fine Arts Center at the University of Minnesota, Morris. The concert is sponsored by the Glenn Nielson Family of Glenwood, formerly residents of Wheaton, and is a celebration of the establishment of the Karyn Nielson Memorial Scholarship. "I cannot recall when I have heard a more exciting or more accomplished two-piano teamÅ ," said Chicago Tribune music critic, John von Rhein. The brilliant husband and wife team from Russia came to the United States with an impressive list of competition prizes to its credit and is winning critical acclaim in the U.S. as gifted artists making a genuine contribution to the marvelous, but seldom-heard, literature for two pianos. In 1990, after only a few weeks of preparation, Lisitsa and Kuznetsoff captured the first prize at the Ukrainian Chamber Music Competition. In 1991, they were awarded the first prize in the 3rd International Murry Dranoff Two Piano Competition. Shortly after their victory in Miami, they made their home in the United States and recently became American citizens. Their recent orchestra engagements have included tours as soloists with the Orchestra National de France with performances at New York's Lincoln Center and Boston Symphony Hall among other places. They have performed at such respected venues as the Tisch Center for the Arts at New York's 92nd Street Y, Van Cliburn Recital Series in Fort Worth, Grant Park Festival in Chicago, among others. The duo has recorded two CDs for the Audiofon label.
Extractions: All kidding aside, it is Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987) that might be known as "some guy," since he lived in the shadow of the best-known Russian composers. The Comedians has long been a favorite of mine, and tonight's first piece, the overture from his opera Colas Breugnon, is similarly fast, imaginative, and joyous, with snare-and-tympani percussion and whimsical xylophone passages. Kabalevsky wrote pieces known for their accessibility to the people, as dictated by the Soviet government, but what amazes me is that anyone trying to avoid Stalin's gulags could produce music that is so much fun! Dmitri's better-known colleagues may have more gravitas as serious composers, but as another famous Russian said, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." Tonight we were having dessert first, and it was sweet.
