Gerald Evans and Margarita Denenburg, Duo Piano, Stocker Center Studio Theatre, April 16, 2013

Cleveland has a lively music scene, and many opportunities to hear great music of many varieties.  I don't take advantage of this nearly as much as I should, but I just felt like this was one I couldn't pass up. So I went and saw two incredible pianists play magnificently together. The program was: Copland's Billy The Kid, Lutoslawski's Variations On a Theme by Paganini, and Stravinsky's The Rite Of Spring, all in arrangements for two pianos.

The two pianists worked fluidly together, with contrasting yet complementary styles, playing both to and off of each other. The music was interesting and the piano interplay was awe-inspiring. The Copland was raucous fun, the Lutoslawski fast and furious. Both were performed with technical brilliance.

The Stravinsky, which came with an informative introduction by the artists, was breathtakingly beautiful, and really let the souls of these fine performers shine. I thought the first part of the program was magnificent until they played this fascinating arrangement of The Rite Of Spring for two pianos. Amazing.

A little taste of some outstanding northern Ohio talent.

They'll do it again Saturday the 20th at Heidelberg University and Saturday the 27th at The Cleveland Music Settlement. If you get the chance, you gotta go.