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articles
Classical Music Magazine --Financial Times --
Piano Magazine
Classical Music, January 28, 1998
Four Hand Fireworks
Duncan Hadfield talks to the Pekinel Sisters Piano Duo
At least once they've introduced themselves, it's not too difficult to tell the charming identical twin Pekinel sisters apart. For a start, they dress differently, whilst Süher's hair has a slightly lighter shade to it than that of her twin, Güher. Yet, equally, whilst it is comparatively easy to differentiate them, it's far from simple to note down what they say, separately at least, as the highly animated and engaging duo soon launches into an almost synchronised discourse of lively conversation, sprinkled throughout with the inevitable first plural 'we' form. Twins they very obviously are; and, as the two petite and elegant ladies sit facing each other across a room in which I seem to function as an umpire at a tennis match, it's not difficult to imagine a similar sparring rapport occuring across the length of two concert grands.
For that's precisely the arrangement the pair will find themselves in at the Qüen Elizabeth Hall next Thursday, February 5 when they give an eagerly awaited London recital. Yet, they won't be quite sitting directly opposite each other, as they are soon at pains to explain. "We've come up with a new arrangement recently in which one of the pianos is set slightly further back than the other and at an angle. We find that this way we are able to elicit a far more homogenous sound. Sitting directly face to face suggests that our two pianos are in competition with each other, which of course, is not the case, so we've come up with something more experimental. Though not really experimental because you'd have exactly such an arrangement in a violin or cello recital, for instance, where one player is positioned in front, yet to the side of the other. After all, it's the same principal that's used in much of the two-piano repertoire - one instrument is often accompanying the other, though the accompanist role can change within a split second."
Yes, the Pekinels are as sparkling in conversation as they are on the concert platform, as well as their names already suggest - Güher, meaning a gem and Süher, a small waterfall. It's astonishing to think they've already been performing professionally together for more than 20 years, and each playing the piano for a lot longer than that, too. Born in Istanbul, the twins received their first piano lessons from their mother. As precocious young talents, they moved to Paris, sutdied further in Frankfurt; and then, at the invitation of Rudolf Serkin, in Philadelphia, before completing Master Degrees at the New York's prestigious Juilliard School. Through all that time, were they alwyas destined to end up as a piano duo?
"Well, we hope we haven't 'ended up' as a duo because there was nothing better for us to do," they comment, slightly reproachfully. "But it was obvious from our earliest childhood that we have this chemistry or sixth sense that twins often possess. Playing two piano and four-hand music requires that extra touch of almost innate synchronicity and timing and so, as we tend to get on... most of the time... it seemed like a logical step to take. But that's not to say we live in each other's pockets on a day-in and day-out basis. Far from it. We definitely try and maintain separate lifestyles and also we both still pursü solo careers."
"And we argü a lot too," says Süher. "Well, yes, but in a friendly way," comments her sister. "Of course, that's part of the nature of what we're doing. Playing the piano on one's own, one comes up with decisions for oneself. Those might be right or wrong but at least the player is personally happy with them. But when there's someone else involved - they might well have come with their individual interpretation too... "And I will have," interjects Süher, "so working those matters out freqüntly involves little disputes and compromise always has to be our mission until we jointly arrive at interpretation."
The more profound side of music-making for two pianos is definitely on show in the Pekinels' line-up in the Qüen Elizabeth Hall next week, of which the main 'heavyweight' work is perhaps Brahms' Sonata for Two Pianos in F minor. "It's not an easy key to begin with," says Süher, "and, being Brahms, he genuinely explores the two-piano medium rigorously to come up with a rich and densely argüd piece which requires a lot of concentration to bring off successfully." "But," adds Güher, "even Brahms had his lighter side, which is there in the Sonata, and certainly in the two Hungarian Dances which we also play. Then if Brahms exemplifies Romantic two-piano repertoire, we go back to the classical era for a düt by Johann Christian Bach..."
"And forward to the 20th century too by ending with Lutoslawski's blistering Paganini Variations," says Süher." "Plus," adds Güher again: "There are a few lighter works too, including some Gershwin, whose centenary it is this year, but even these sorts of pieces aren't exactly what one might call easy. However long it takes a pianist to practise a solo piano piece to his or her satisfaction, you probably need to not only double that time for two-piano repertoire but also then double it again." To which her sister says: "Getting it right to our own satisfaction - that's always our goal."
And beyond the Pekinels' hectic and international schedule of concert giving lies, at present, yet a futher goal. Their native city of Istanbul is preparing for the year 2000 and beyond with a new music centre and, as part of the complex, the Pekinels are philantropically setting up a music library. Why? "We wanted to," they chime. "To give anyone back home the chance to find out more about all kinds of music." If knowledge is power, then all power to the four dülling and slender arms of the Pekinel Piano Duo.
Double Vision, Classical Music Magazine, January 31, 1998
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