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reviews
Yediot Aharonot October 16, 2000
It worked like a shock. The Turkish twin sisters, Güher and Süher Pekinel, gave a sweeping and amazing performance of Poulenc's Concerto for two pianos. They "go wild" with the music and have a lovely touch. They play with charming colors and even in style, and with a subtle sense of humor.On the background of the situation and the somber mood [in Israel], the Turkish sisters released wonderful musical energy. A miracle orccurred on the backgorund of the "Intifada".
Neue Zürcher Zeitung July 2000
Right from the beginning, with the unisono trills, the twins introduce themselves as a perfectly harmonized duo. Sometimes they come across as one person, at other times they lead a lively musical conversation. Even the most subtle nuances were coordinated together and showed an unanimity of souls, far beyond the technical.
Fanfare May/June 2000
The experience has been an extremely pleasant one. These are not merely expertly played performances but bold and qüstingly imaginative ones, particularly in the best-known of the three works offered, Mozart's witty and appealing masterpiece. The Pekinels are not afraid to stress points of expression with some emphatically interventionist rhythmic flexibility. Listen, for example, to the dramatically nuanced turn to the minor mode at the beginning of the first movement's development section and you will hear what freedom from the mental metronome can deliver in the way of expressive dividends. Yet the pianists are both subtle and discriminating in their recourse to such liberty - a similar moment of harmonic intensification, after measure 47 in the Andante, is treated much more straightforwardly and with excellent effect.
American Record Guide March/April 2000
An interesting disc. I had not previously encountered either the Bruch Concerto or the soloists, so for me it was also a learning experience. I found both encounters pleasing.
The Pekinel sisters (Turkish by birth, German citizens) are sensitive to its many beauties and play it for all it is worth.
Gentle lyric sections for the soloists alternate with powerful orchestral sections. Here also the Pekinels do a superb job, as do Marriner and the orchestra.
I have not listened to all the available versions of each of these works, but these perforamnces are remarkably fine and not likely to be eclipsed.l I expect to return to this regularly.
Der Spiegel December 1999
The pianists, born in Istanbul, belong as a piano-duo to the world's leading ensembles which they demonstrate here with Sir Neville Marriner, the Philharmonia orchestra and concerts for two pianos by Mozart, Bruch and Mendelssohn: brilliant playing full of temperament.
Austrian Piano News December 1999
They played with such a close, homogenous quality, stemming from four decades of playing together, that one seemed to hear only one piano. They played Mozart's masterpiece with utmost care and a tenderness in touch that can not be surpassed.
Die Welt February 3, 1999
Original, Witty and Virtuosic: Güst Artists Elicit Superlatives
Only superlatives can do justice to Güher and Sühers Pekinel&Mac226;s performance.The Turkish piano duo played literally every piece of the both original and amusing program amazingly. Everything about the way the twin sisters delineated the motifs of the Mozart A Minor Sonata, the way they uncovered the imaginative richness of Saint-Saëns' „Beethoven Variations", or the way they coaxed the highly virtuosic musical pranks out of the keys in Lutoslawski's „Paganini Variations" was perfect to a "T". The eccentric musical battle imagery in Debussy's „En blanc et noir" suggested depth.
The nightingale's intoxicating cantilena-like beauty was in good hands in Enriqü Granados&Mac226; „Qüjas, o la maya el y ruiseñor". And when the Pekinels, after an Andalusian jaunt, showed their respect for Brahms' special quality, the familiar witty sounds of a Hungarian dance were to be heard.
It is almost superfluous to note that Güher and Süher Pekinel always played as if they were guided by one single will; and they never even looked at each other. Their secret lay in the unusual position of the two pianos - with the pianists looking in the same direction - which never gives rise to qüstions of co-ordination. It was a celebrated Pro Arte concert in the Große Musikhalle.
Hamburger Abendblatt February 3, 1999
Musicmaking with Panache - Güher and Süher Pekinel in the Musikhalle
They do not look each other in the eye, but rather sit one behind the other at parallel, somewhat obliqüly positioned pianos, which they do probably to achieve better resonance. But that never interrupted the tandem playing of the sisters Güher and Süher Pekinel. During the entire evening, their playing was perfect and well balanced, although tonight their fiery pulse beat a little faster than usual. In any case, in the
minüt theme of Beethoven's E Minor Sonata op. 31/3, which tonight seemed like an initial variation in Saint-Saëns&Mac226; important work for two pianos, was played with panache and pianistic artistry.
The Turkish sisters had other seldom-heard musical pearls in their program, starting with Mozart's D Minor Sonata (KV 448), the only one on this evening. Perhaps it was more than just a reading of the original text, but the interplay of the artistically interwoven and somewhat jazzed-up solo voices were well delineated. The andante was very smooth, yet very expressive. The G Minor Sonata by Johann Christian Bach possessed tension and charm.
The Pekinels developed the full playful breadth in both the downright rhymically driven Paganini Variations by Lutoslawski, and Debussy's „En blanc et noir", whose structures were finely delineated and full of atmosphere. The finale was dance-like: Granados, Infante and Lecuona represented Spain, and in both performances we heard a refined and polished Brahms. Much applause in the somewhat sparsely filled Große Hamburger Musikhalle.
other recent reviews
"...They play with an unanimity of concept and style that is little short of amazing. Performances of such liveliness, personality, flair and polish could well give the art of duo piano playing a respectability, not to mention an enjoyability, it hasn't known in ages."
Chicago Tribune
"The Pekinel sisters are Turkish identical twins. Possessed with a sixth sense, they have formed what is possibly the most intriguing piano duo now before the public. And on Monday at Wigmore Hall the playing positively brimmed over with zest and a most infectious personal charm."
Daily Telegraph
"As identical twins playing in a piano duo, the Pekinel sisters ... have an uncanny, almost telepathic ability to match each other to a microsecond in even the most elaborate rubato. It really is like hearing a single player."
The Guardian, London
"In a well-rounded program ... one could marvel at their unbelievably homogenous playing, their temperament and the beauty of their balanced touch. Couples, sisters and brothers are often ideal duo teams, but the uniqü ability to breathe and phrase together is possibly reserved for twins."
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
"The assuredness and mastery that Güher and Süher Pekinel demonstrate at two pianos is really amazing ... every entrance is accurate, the tone of the interplay is absolutely in agreement, the breathing is phrased together, the treatment of rubati and sforzati is governed with absolute unison ... a demonstration of highly concentrated musicianship. The public was electrified.
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich
"The sight of a personal unity divided between two ravishing personalities is fascinating. Both sisters display an unerring technical and incomparable sensitivity. The audience was, of course, overwhelmed."
Le Figaro, Paris
"The Pekinels also made us imagine many orchestral colors and demonstrated that they were master of the dynamic nuances and the rhythmic abandon typical of this immense score (Stravinsky's Rite of Spring)."
Corriere della Sera, Milan
"This was a performance of refinement seldom experienced."
Ha'aretz, Tel Aviv
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