Croene & Cornelis pianoduo, Petrushka

Igor Stravinsky wrote the music for the ballet Petrushka in 1911 and later arranged it for orchestra. The story bears some resemblance to Pinocchio: a puppet comes to life and develops its own emotional world.

This four-handed performance features no dancing or orchestra but two excellent pianists: Emmy Wils and Piet Kuijken. The former was once the latter’s student, and now they sit together at the keyboard, pulling the strings of Petrushka and the other fairground puppets.

Opposite them sit the piano duo Croene and Cornelis. They perform Petrushka in their own unique way, questioning the balance of power: who is playing whom? Who follows and who leads? Is playing four-handed on one piano as symbiotic as it seems?

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•Marlies Cornelis