Classics of the Modern: Bartóks Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion with Florian Hauser

The Musiknagazin on the 2nd symphony by Brahms

Coffee with Adrienne Soós and Ivo Haag (in German)

Die neue Platte Klaus Gehrke

Mit dieser CD haben Adrienne Soós und Ivo Haag eine überaus spannungsvolle und tiefgründige Einspielung voller Leidenschaft und Innigkeit vorgelegt, die zum neu Wiederhören und Entdecken einlädt. Man darf durchaus gespannt sein auf die nächste vierhändige Brahms-Sinfonie und deren kongeniale Ergänzung.

CD Brahms 2 TLS 218

Polished tone, perfect ensemble and mature musicality define the interpretation of this version for piano four hands made by the composer himself. This wonderful symphony on the piano? It might give purists cause for doubt, but this vanishes within the first couple of bars. The appeal of such a transcription lies surely in bringing the symphonic score to life on the piano. The Soós Haag duo achieve this with flying colours. In their hands it can be heard with crystal clarity and astonishing definition. The piano adaptation opens the ears anew and shows the seemingly familiar in a whole new light.

Martin Preisser

CD Brahms 2 TLS 2018

In particular, the recording shows that such arrangements had their own artistic value above and beyond any marketing strategy. In this way, Brahms, in his reduction of the orchestral texture, strove not for documentary accuracy, but for a clarity not possible in the larger setting. The interpretation of the Lucerne piano duo was consistent with this. Their sound is not souped up or smoothed over by studio technology, and the resulting transparency highlights with an incisive clarity the motivic connections so important in Brahms.
And so we hear the work afresh. Polyphonic entanglements are laid bare, lyrical melodies and dialogues between the voices in the second movement emerge all the more vividly from pianistic writing, and the bass retains its definition even in the low trills which imitate the timpani roll. The duo does not execute tutti surges with massive pomp, but with a tension in their sound suggestive of fullness and even of force. In the folk-inspired rhythmic outbursts in the third and fourth movements, their duet playing achieves a verve hardly to be attained with orchestral forces.

Urs Mattenberger

CD Brahms 2 TLS 218

With his numerous arrangements for piano four hands, Brahms contributed more assiduously to the dissemination of his works than his contemporaries. That he transcribed even his symphonies for keyboard is a fact much appreciated by the Adrienne Soós and Ivo Haag piano duo, who know exactly how to bring out the pianistic qualities of these works.
In the second symphony even harmless tremoli sound masterful. Rendered pianissimo in the middle register and combined with deep murmuring octaves, they create a tone colour of magical effect in the Finale. The piano duo lends the graceful Allegretto the lightness of a dance movement, perhaps from a piano suite. In the von Goetz sonata, the Hungarian/Swiss duet partners show once again the rhythmic sensitivity and passionate temperament they have at their command.

Walter Labhart

Mozart: Concerto KV 365 with Mario Venzago and the Bern Symphony Orchestra. 11.12.2015

...and as exceptional soloists - showcasing 'á deux' their polished keyboard skills, but never themselves - the Hungarian/Swiss piano duo Adrienne Soós and Ivo Haag gave a resplendent rendition on two concert grands of Mozart's Piano Concerto in E-flat.

Austrian premier of the concerto for two pianos by Jean Françaix at the festival Carinthiscer Sommer with the Filarmonnica Toscanini Parma and Thomas Rösner

The 'Concerto pour deux pianos et orchestre' by Françaix, which received its Austrian première in Villach, was a highlight of the Carinthian Summer Music Festival. The pianists sped virtuosically through the four movements. Their playing is cast from the same mould, finely-tuned and supremely flexible in dialogues with solo voices from the orchestra as well as with the orchestra itself. The numerous technical refinements were mastered without turning a hair, and were manifested to the audience as the pure joy of music-making.