18th International Bellapais Spring Music Fest : 18 April: ECKO duo – Emre Öztek and Chisato Kusunoki – piano
By Heidi Trautmann……
The evening of the concert was lovely and warm, all parking areas were full, and concert-goers rushed to the Abbey…..our Bellapais Spring Music Fest is already in full swing with its second event.
We have come to listen to the ECKO duo with Emre Öztek, Cyprus, and Chisato Kusunoki Japan, and I am sitting next to her lovely two little sons in the front row who are most excited to see their mom on stage.
ECKO duo the two pianists – Emre Öztek and Chisato Kusunoki – met in 2015, please read their biographies which I have attached, it is most interesting to learn their background and experiences, the teachers they have studied with and composers and musicians they have worked with.
The programme was well chosen, please find it attached. It was wonderful to see and hear them fourhanded with the first two pieces by Antonin Dvorak and Franz Schubert, the way they interacted and how the two parts became one musical painting.
The next two pieces were solos and we could experience the individuality of the two pianists and their interpretations of the musical pieces, but both their performances were equally vivacious.
Towards the end of the concert after the break, a very special treat was offered to the audience, Emre Öztek gave us an introduction by word and play to B.Smetana’s composition ‘The Moldau’ with its many scenes along the river. And then to hear all the scenes in its entity played for four hands was a feast for us.
The audience showed their enthusiasm and gratitude with a long-lasting applause and standing ovations and we were rewarded with an encore of Piazolla’s Libertango.
Thank you for the beautiful evening.
To see more pictures please go to my Facebook page
