Strathearn Music Society Review – Piano Phase Project Duo
Wed 26th February 2025
Hailing from Poland and Lithuania respectively, Anna Szalucka and Monica Lozinskiené together form Piano Phase Project Duo. Both accomplished solo pianists in their own right, when they join forces to play duets the result appears to be much more than the sum of two equal parts.
The piano duo medium plainly offers the possibility of twenty notes at a time (if you really want as many as that!) and indeed has been popular in times past as a means to allow the domestic recreation of the symphonic repertoire by capable amateurs; it certainly gives the opportunity for large scale effects and opens up the whole range of the instrument for composers to exploit.
Above and beyond that, however it’s a far more subtle vehicle than merely an expanded keyboard and, paradoxically, in the hands of artists such as these, it can provide an unexpected lightness, transparency and clarity to musical textures. A lot depends on the players’ ability to merge into one performing unit, and this is evidently the particular strength of Anna and Monica, who give every impression of communicating by an uncanny emotional telepathy. They also obviously relish every minute of the music they present – a glance round the audience at Strathearn Arts last Wednesday would have confirmed many reflections of the smiles and pleasure radiated by this charismatic pair.
The repertoire specifically composed for piano four hands was here represented by three of its most enduring classics, each one immaculately nuanced and balanced with every detail shining through and delivered with the utmost affection: Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite and Debussy’s Petite Suite, along with Brahms’ Hungarian Dances were all arranged for orchestra soon after their composition, but on this showing the original conception of all three wins hands down.
Completing the programme were arrangements of George Gershwin’s Three Preludes for Piano Solo and, surprisingly, of Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro (scored by Ravel for flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet). You might have thought that such a piece would be absolutely dependent on the ethereal and shimmering instrumental tone colours of the original but it turns out that this pair can paint convincing impressionistic images just as well themselves. That’s quite an achievement.
Finally, once again, thanks again to SMS President Frances Farr for covering the cost of the concert piano and also to the Tunnell Trust for sponsoring the artists’ fees.
