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articles
--Piano Magazine
--Classical Music Magazine
--Financial Times
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.
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