Beethoven’s Fifth and Pastoral Symphonies as you’ve rarely heard them: Duo Pleyel brings their orchestral drama and colour to a single piano in remarkable four-hand arrangements by Beethoven’s pupil Carl Czerny.

This programme pairs the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, two of Beethoven’s most beloved masterpieces, offering a strikingly intimate encounter with two familiar works.

The Symphonic Piano series explores one of the most fascinating chapters in musical history: the nineteenth-century tradition of bringing symphonic masterpieces into the home through virtuosic arrangements for piano duet. Long before recordings existed, audiences encountered many of the great orchestral works in this way, and Czerny was particularly well placed to undertake the task.

A pupil of Beethoven from the age of ten, Czerny absorbed his teacher’s musical language at first hand and became one of the finest arrangers of his generation. His transcriptions of the complete symphony cycle are extraordinary feats of imagination and pianistic ingenuity, preserving the power, colour and architecture of the originals while creating works that are thrillingly idiomatic for the keyboard.

In this concert, Duo Pleyel presents Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6, both first heard at Beethoven’s legendary four-hour benefit concert at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien on 22 December 1808. The Fifth’s electrifying momentum and dramatic contrasts sit alongside the Sixth’s vivid landscapes and pastoral warmth, demonstrating the astonishing range of Beethoven’s symphonic voice. These arrangements invite audiences to experience the symphonies with the immediacy and intimacy that captivated listeners in Beethoven’s own time.

This event will last approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes, including an interval.

Duo Pleyel:

Named after their beautiful 1848 Pleyel piano, pianists Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya and Richard Egarr are known as Duo Pleyel. The duo has been working for the past nine years to bring the rich and exciting repertoire for piano 4-hands to a wider public. They are particularly committed to providing mixed programmes ranging from the earliest music by Johann Christian Bach and Mozart, and lesser-known early Romantics such as Hummel and Dussek, through to the great popular works by Fauré, Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky in the twentieth century.

Duo Pleyel records for LINN/Outhere Records, and their releases of Schubert, Dussek, J.C.Bach and Mozart have received glowing international reviews. Their last recording, Yuletide Treats, was BBC Music Magazine’s Instrumental Recording of the Month in December 2024, describing it as ‘Piano Treats that go straight to the heart’. The recording is a feast of music for the Christmas holiday season, including Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite and the Blue Danube by Strauss.

Their recording project of the complete Beethoven Symphonies in extraordinary 4-hand arrangements by his undervalued student Carl Czerny began in 2023. Symphonies 1 to 8 are in the can! In October 2026 Symphony 9 will be recorded to complete the cycle, which will be released in Spring 2027. These transcriptions are fascinating and hugely important for both historical and musicological  reasons, as well as from a purely musical perspective.

Duo Pleyel is honoured and excited to collaborate with the Chris Maene Piano Collection, and has used several of its fabulous 19th century instruments.