Whispers of Winter: Romantic Music for Piano Four Hands

Welcome to Whispers of Winter: Romantic Music for Piano Four Hands!
Join us at St Cyprian's, Clarence Gate on December 12, 2025 at 7:30 PM for an enchanting evening of festive melodies. Be swept away by the magic of Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann as our duo brings the warmth and wonder of the season to life at the piano.

To make the evening even more special, guests will enjoy a glass of wine — not supermarket plonk, but elegant bottles from the performers’ own vineyard, crafted with the same care and artistry that shape their music.

Mark your calendars and celebrate timeless Romantic music, shared warmth, and the joy of the holidays with us.

Note: This event is in Europe/London timezone.

PROGRAMME

Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Rondo in A major, Op. 107 D 951 for piano four hands (1828) - Allegretto quasi andantino

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), Die Hebriden (1829-30), Op. 26, piano four hands version by F. Mendelssohn

Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Bilder aus Osten (Pictures from the East) - 6 Impromptus for piano four hands, Op. 66 (1848):

No. 1: Lebhaft (lively)

No. 2: Nicht schnell und sehr gesangvoll zu spielen (Not fast and with a singing style)

No. 3: Im Volkston (in folk style)

No. 4: Nicht schnell 'Chanson Orientale' (Not fast)

No. 5: Lebhaft (lively)

No. 6: Reuig andächtig (Repentantly devout)

Franz Schubert, Duo (“Lebensstürme”), Op. 144 D 940 in A minor for piano four hands

Fiammetta Tarli e Ivo Varbanov, piano four hands

There is no doubt that music evokes stories and images. The Romantic programme chosen by Ivo and Fiammetta is particularly suitable for this purpose.

The incomparable grace of the opening theme to Schubert's Rondo in A major takes us into the midst of nature, into a magical forest full of wonderful and unattainable dreams. We are in 1828, the year in which Schubert fell ill and died, unfortunately before being able to realize his musical intentions. That year saw the emergence of wonderful compositions: this Rondo is no different, with its moving integration and coherence of all its compositional elements. Schubert was trying to create a new style and break new ground when death took him prematurely.

The orchestral overture The Hebrides, or Fingal’s Cave, here in Mendelssohn's arrangement for piano four hands, takes us into a completely different story. We are in the same year, 1828, but this time in Scotland, on the small Staffa island (Mendelssohn called it the ‘lonely island’). He visited it in his twenties, during a European tour, and was enchanted by it, to the point of sending his family a musical idea that evoked the acoustics and colours of its basalt cave. The idea was then expanded and became one of his most famous orchestral pieces, admired even by a composer of difficult tastes like Brahms, who stated "I would gladly give all I have written, to have composed something like the Hebrides Overture".

Schumann’s Bilder aus Osten (Images of the East), composed in 1848, are inspired not by a place, but by poetry: Die Verwandlungen von Abu Serug (The Metamorphoses of Abu Serug) by Al-Hariri of Basra, a collection of fifty Arabic poem-tales (maqamat) written in the 12th century and translated into German in 1837 by the pen of Friedrich Rueckert. In these tales, the protagonist travels around Turkey, and from his encounters colorful stories and anecdotes arise, based on his desire to get the better of situations, even through deception.

With the last piece of this programme, the circle closes. Schubert’s Allegro/Duo in A minor ‘Lebensstürme’ is another of the compositions of his last year of life (1828): together with the Rondo in A major and the Fantasia in F minor, it forms an ideal trilogy for piano four hands. This powerful sonata movement, called ‘Life Storms’ not by Schubert but by his publisher, reaches the heights of a true symphonic movement in terms of its extension and dramatic depth.

Text © 2025 di Fiammetta Tarli (PhD)

Husband and wife Ivo Varbanov and Fiammetta Tarli are both accomplished concert pianists who share a deep passion for original and uncompromisingly high-quality music-making. When they began performing together as a piano duo in 2013, an exceptional artistic chemistry quickly emerged, enriching both their musical and personal harmony.

Their first meeting took place in Milan at the home of Ilona Deckers, the distinguished Hungarian teacher, whose influence helped shape their refined Central European sound culture. Yet, while they share similar artistic roots, their musical personalities complement each other beautifully — intertwining in a rich, ongoing dialogue of ideas and expression.

Alongside their successful duo partnership, both artists continue to maintain active solo careers and perform in a variety of chamber music settings.

As a piano duo, Fiammetta and Ivo have appeared on major international stages, including Cadogan Hall and St John’s Smith Square (London), West Road Concert Hall (Cambridge), Royal Concert Hall and New Auditorium (Glasgow), Holywell Music Room (Oxford), St George’s (Bristol), Tianjin Concert Hall, Zhuhai Grand Theatre and Urumqi Grand Theater (China), Bulgaria Concert Hall (Sofia), and many others.

They have been featured in renowned festivals such as Brahms Unwrapped at Kings Place (London), Wye Valley Music Festival (UK), Conciertos Temáticos (Santander, Spain), Sofia Music Weeks, Konvergencie International Chamber Music Festival (Bratislava), Piano Extravaganza (Sofia), Les Concerts du Foyer Européen (Luxembourg), Ohrid Summer Festival (North Macedonia), Sofia Philharmonic Season, Apollonia Festival (Bulgaria).

Their discography includes releases on their own label ICSM Records, as well as Hyperion Records, Orchid Classics, Gega New, and Lorelt Records. Their recordings have received wide international acclaim from the International Record Review, Rivista Musica, Fanfare, The Observer, Klassisk Musikkmagasin, and HI-FI+, among others.

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Host or Publisher Ivo Varbanov & Fiammetta Tarli