Lucas a Arthur Jussenovi • Rudolf Firkušný Piano Festival

Surprisingly, these Dutch pianists with an image of football champions started playing piano thanks to a FIFA World Cup. Born into a family of a flute player and a timpanist, it is no wonder that the elder Lucas was fascinated by the national anthems he listened to before every match, in addition to the matches themselves. For the past thirteen years, the Jussen brothers have been under contract with the Deutsche Grammophon label and the label refers to them as the best piano duo of today. The programme of their Prague debut will open with the music by Viennese classical composers as well as the iconic works of the first half of the 20th century that are related to dance. First, they will play a Sonata for two pianos which Mozart wrote for his pupil and, for the first time, performed with her in her fathers salon. Subsequently, the Jussen brothers will sit together at one piano to perform the melodic Rondo in A major for four hands which Franz Schubert composed in the last year of his short life. The first half of the evening will close with Ravels ecstatic and ironic tribute to the Viennese waltz. The second half will feature a rarely performed version of the Stravinsky´s ballet The Rite of Spring which, in its rhythms inspired by Russian pagan traditions, sounds as revolutionary as during its legendary Paris premiere.

The Rudolf Firkušný Piano Festival is organized by Prague Spring Festival.