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About the Duo

"I can only say I was bowled over by the playing of this Franco-Russian husband-and-wife duo" Jeremy Nicholas – Gramophone
"Blithely, with panache, and audacity. A tour de force" Melissa Khong - Classica

Drawing their strength from a mutual taste for sharing, taking risks, and exploration, Ludmila Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle are inseparable pianists; they are a symbiotic couple on and off stage.
 
Reviews acclaiming the duo as “sensational pianists” (Fanfare) and “brilliant, cheerful” (Diapason), lauding their ability to “cultivate duality in a supernatural dimension” (Le Monde), their “superb technique” (Classica), their synchronised playing which gives “the impression of being only one player” (Musicweb-international) and their “truly dazzling playing” (Fonoforum) have placed them on the list of highest-ranking piano duos on the international stage.

Both coming from a long line of famous performers, and both accomplished soloists, Ludmila Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle have become a piano duo characterised by an unfaltering mutual understanding. Thanks to their special energy on stage, original repertoire, new concert formats and ability to communicate with the audience, they aim to contribute to giving the piano duo a status equal to all other forms of chamber music.
Performing together since 20211, the duo managed to put together a repertoire featuring the ‘greatest hits’ for two pianos and four hands, as well as rare works featuring original compositions and new transcriptions, enriched by Arthur Ancelle's scores : Francesca da Rimini (Jurgenson), Romeo & Juliet (Chant du Monde), After a reading of Dante, etc.

Each season, they are guests of the most beautiful halls: Philharmonie de Paris, Radio France Auditorium, Salle Gaveau, Salle Cortot, Moscow and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Halls, Zaryadye Hall, Moscow Conservatory, Mariinsky Concert Hall, and they are invited to prestigious festivals such as the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, the Moscow December Nights Festival, the Tokyo Spring Festival, Rota das Artes in Lisbon, Klavier Raritäten in Husum, Lille Piano Festival, the Lisztomanias, the Solistes à Bagatelle or the Pianofolies du Touquet…

They also collaborate with renowned orchestras such as St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National d'Ile de France, Ulsan Philharmonic Orchestra, Ural Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Picardie, and conductors of all generations: Nikolai Alexeev, Arie Van Beek, Vladimir Ponkin, Dmitry Liss, Vahan Mardirossian, Jader Bignamini, Georg Köhler, Yuri Medianik, Lucie Leguay, Rebecca Tong…
 
Bolstered by intense recording activity as a duo, as soloists, or as chamber musicians, Ludmila Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle have already released 10 albums together, all of which have been extremely well received and awarded by the international press (Gramophone's Editor's Choice, Classica's Choc, Le Monde’s and Libération's Album of the Year, Pianiste Maestro, etc.). Their concerts are recorded and broadcast by France Musique, Radio Classique (France), Deutschlandfunk Kultur (Germany), Radio Orpheus (Russia), NPO radio 4 (Netherlands), RTS (Switzerland)...

Their creativity and desire to share is also expressed through a class entirely dedicated to piano duos at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, and the artistic direction of two festivals: La Clé des Portes, created in 2012 and which takes place in the enchanting setting of the Loire castles, and the Rungis Piano-Piano Festival, entirely dedicated to the world of 2-pianos and 4-hands.

© Berlinskaya Ancelle piano duo 2023