Concert des professeurs | Philippe Cassard et Cédric Pescia

In this four-hand concert, two great artists engage in a musical dialogue on the same instrument. Our two professors, Philippe Cassard and Cédric Pescia, perform the most beautiful works from the four-hand repertoire with great chemistry. Among them, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sonata in F major, K. 497, stands out for its almost symphonic scope and the richness of its contrapuntal writing. Its first movement opens with a highly expressive introduction, followed by a peaceful theme that gradually transforms, giving way to a more turbulent atmosphere. The Andante that follows unfolds a dialogue of remarkable subtlety, whose main theme evokes that of the Horn Concerto, K. 495. Finally, the Allegretto, in rondo-sonata form, recalls the virtuosity of a piano concerto finale. Claude Debussy’s six *Épigraphes antiques* immerse the listener in Eastern atmospheres that are both enigmatic and sensual. This cycle of miniatures, written in 1914, largely draws on the music of the *Chansons de Bilitis*, composed thirteen years earlier to poems by Pierre Louÿs. Set in a modal, often pentatonic world, these pieces evoke an idealized nature. Other miniatures round out the program, including excerpts from Johannes Brahms’s *Liebeslieder-Walzer*, in which each waltz delicately explores an emotion inspired by love poetry.Finally, the pinnacle of the repertoire for four hands, Franz Schubert’s Fantasy D. 940 in F minor impresses with the mastery of its structure. Its four movements flow seamlessly from one to the next, from the melancholic surges of its Allegro molto moderato to the somber final fugato.

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