All the Press

"It is hard to resist the vivacity and tenderness, as well as the relief that Ludmila Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle bring to the two allegros, which they carry off with adolescent freshness. And how imaginative they are in the Adagio non troppo - an astonishing piece considering the age of its author -, knowing how to translate its rich expression and changing colours without overloading the subject. A sparkling Tsfasman as an encore prolongs the pleasure."

"they achieved an inspired and increasingly convincing performance. In particular, the excellent interpretation of Knight Errant, an expansive, polyphonically worked character piece with concertante features, fits perfectly in the Husum Knights' Hall. The finale (...), skilfully adapted by Arthur Ancelles, is an absolute highlight of inspired, audience-oriented music-making. (...) Soviet 'jazz' - this is not an everyday occurrence even in Husum and is enthusiastically received in the auditorium"

"From the outset, Ludmila Berlinskaia and Arthur Ancelle seduced us with their virtuosity, the cleanliness of their playing, their flawless technique and their perfect harmony. Not a fraction of a second of mismatch. One had the impression of having to deal with a single performer who fully appropriated the melody and harmonisation, whatever the style of the work played."

"Liszt's mighty B Minor Sonata is a serious challenge for any pianist, both in terms of dramaturgy and technology. Saint-Saëns' arrangement adds to the complexity of the ensemble interaction - a kind of "reverse translation," in which two pianos must sound like one instrument. And Berlinskaya and Ancelle coped with this task perfectly, demonstrating not only enviable virtuosity but also astonishing simultaneity in phrasing, breathing, sense of tempo and inner harmony."

"Ludmila Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle performed two major works from the romantic piano repertoire. The listener will have been seduced by their complicity and by their interpretation, both delicate and fiery."

"The interpretation is perfectly sculpted in time, with a rich note and a worked sound (...) Everything in this duet is, indeed, at work, at the sound, and at the concern of the other. (...) Performing in a deserted hall a gambling and flamboyant nineteenth century, the duo reveals the aspirations of our time, its hopes and despairs."

"A wonderful moment of sharing and joy (...) The duo Berlinskaïa - Ancelle finds its familiar marks here, speaking with mischievous joy in the first movement, tenderly exchanging themes and then singing in one voice in the admirable Andante. What a harmony of phrasing, articulation, and subtle ornament making! The Rondeau-allegro, full of character, is dashing, stylish and luminous. (...) What an amazing spectacle to see this couple of pianists enjoying this music, playing their second degree with so much spirit!"

"It was for himself and his sister Nannerl that the Salzburger composed it in 1779, a circumstance that illuminates the spirit of a delightful score, but one in which it is easy to fall into the trap of stringing pearls. No risk with the Duo Berlinskaya-Ancelle which, by the generous complicity that unites it, signs an irresistible interpretation of freshness and relief. The pianists understand that Mozart's music is a theatre scene and the two instruments of the characters dialogue with spirit, mischievousness and grace (wonderful Andante ...). Carried by the luminous direction of Lucie Leguay, their interpretation lives, bounces, with as much vitality as style in the phrasing and, above all, constant wonder. (...) It could not have been a more tasty prelude to the Concerto for Two Pianos in D minor, which Ludmila Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle take on with infectious health and humor. (...) The performers remember it in a lively and farcical interpretation, though never scruffy nor sloppy."

"What is always spectacular, listening to these two pianists, is their millimetre synchronisation, the uniqueness of musical thought. In this sense, Mozart's Concerto K. 365 is a model of exigency. The thousand pitfalls of writing for two pianos, ornaments, articulations, lines in unison or in thirds, the relay of phrases, the balance of the parts, which can only be played at the cost of very meticulous repetition, are overcome here with a confounding ease, a joy of playing, a sparkling energy. The complicity that unites Ludmila Berlinkaïa and Arthur Ancelle expresses itself, despite the different piano playing, with effervescence, humour and emotion in an interpretation with mad charm."

"the trio, formed by the excellent Ludmila Berlinskaya (daughter of Valentin Berlinsky) on piano, Victor Dernovski on violin and Vytautas Sondeckis on cello, gives a magnificent, passionate, deep and poetic interpretation, rich in nuances and colours (...) Ludmila Berlinskaya returns to the Danel Quartet for an interpretation, once again marked with the seal of excellence, which finds its acme in a formidable Scherzo that seduces with its powerful dynamics (piano), its sarcastic tone, sometimes macabre, sometimes jubilant, bathed in a complicity and a total symbiosis between piano and strings."

"If the Russian public previously had to be told the story of this successful "family team", now Berlinskaya and Ancelle are perceived by lovers of good music as a stable and very bright phenomenon on the world piano stage. Academism and fine taste, aristocratness and expression, as well as an impeccable "team play" ensure the duo's growing popularity (as confirmed by the full Zaryadye Hall) and take it to the top positions in the academic establishment's predilections. This creative union impresses by the complete absence of "soloist syndrome", everything is subordinate to the logic of the musical development of the performed works and to the high artistic tasks brilliantly solved by the artists. (...) Summing up my brief overview of the concert, every modern music lover looking for originality, aristocracy and a high level of performing culture, « must have » the Berlinskaya Ancelle duo in their listeners' luggage."

"The ensemble mastery of the Berlinskaya-Ancelle duo was absolutely amazing and led the audience to the greatest admiration. The unity of stroke, phrase, sound, rhythm was amazing. And the tempo changes, in particular in the Suite of Rachmaninoff were so logical that it seemed that it was not a problem for the performers at all to make all these accelerando and meno mosso together."

"These thousand personal qualities, united by a formidable technique, give rise to one of the most brilliant and endearing piano duets of today. (...) The work flourishes in all its climates, nostalgic and dreamy, bubbling and passionate, dark and intense; the inner voices are illuminated, the architecture solid, the paroxysms reached."

"The two soloists Ludmila Berlinskaia and Arthur Ancelle share this mood for playing and enchant in their incredibly dense interaction with extreme precision in technique and articulation - as if the four hands belonged to one body. Especially swirling, by the way, with the encore - the "Snowflakes" from the jazz suite of the Russian jazz pioneer Alexander Tsfasman."

"The emphasis on phrases in the piano is expressive, but does not seem overloaded; surprising accents in the percussion repeatedly break through the dreamy ductus of the second movement. The pianists of the duo Berlinskaia Ancelle pass the phrases from hand to hand almost unnoticed - both the deliberately calm of the second movement and the rebellious shimmering of the third.
Ludmila Berlinskaya plays expressively, her hands whirling over the keys to hear the castanets. She almost rises from her stool, throws her head aside and her hands in the air. Arthur Ancelle on the other side seems less excited and radiates a pleasant calm even in lively passages."

"the two pianists alternate two and four-hands pieces with exemplary complicity. The same complicity they share in telling the story they have woven, and which they unfold with a mixture of humor and tenderness. (...) In the hall, adults and children enjoy a wonderful tale in music with the same happiness ; it deserves to be repeated on other scenes !"

"Enchanted parenthesis of a hour and a half when Claude Debussy, Piotr Illitch Tchaikovsky or Modest Mussorgsky have resumed life under the mischievous but assured fingers of the duo. They have resumed soul. Because seeing both artists bend their backs, make their fingers dance on the pristine keyboard, vibrate as they tip their head, look at each other, smile and go away with a peaceful but exhausted face, it can here be only a question of soul."

"Sometimes united as a single performer, sometimes dialoguing and bringing a certain relief to the ensemble, the two pianists offer a rich palette of effects, thanks first of all to the mastery of nuances: pianissimos set so that the addition of two keyboards do not sound louder than one; fortissimos, on the contrary, of an impressive power." ★★★★★

« one of the best pianists of our times (...) her virtuosity, genuine sincerity and natural artistry - here are three major components of her success.»