The Seattle Times reviews Leif Ove and Marc-André Hamelin’s duo recital tour of the States
“… Their first piece, a brief and seldom-heard Mozart “Larghetto and Allegro in E-Flat Major,” emerged with cheerful serenity. Stravinsky’s propulsive Concerto for Two Pianos presented a more thorny universe with formidably difficult passages and a questing second movement that was particularly well done.
“The three-movement Debussy presented a different sonic universe: beautiful layers of impressionist colors that give way to a more martial, unquiet evocation of World War I (underlain by hints of bugle calls and quotations from the Lutheran hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”).
The duo’s conclusion, “The Rite of Spring,” was a knockout: the simplicity of the two introductory sections, the elemental power of the explosive accents, and the rhythmic excitement of two keyboard superpowers bringing this great score to vivid life.”
Source: Seattle Times