A young duo introduces itself. The interpretations of Cheng² Duo are steeped in a rare balance of unfiltered youthful joy and enthusiasm in their playing on one hand, and mature, historically informed, and profound interpretations on the other, commanding attention from the very first note.
Bryan and Silvie Cheng are brother and sister; he is a cellist, she a pianist, and together they are the Cheng² Duo (pronounced Cheng Squared Duo), now presenting their debut CD with audite. These two Canadian artists are children of Chinese immigrants: she was born in Tokyo, he in Ottawa; today, he lives in Berlin, she in New York - cosmopolitans, therefore, with a diverse cultural background. Both are young, barely or around twenty years of age: audite's youngest artists to date, which also reflects the label's strong commitment to its performers. This debut CD marks the beginning of an audite recording series featuring Cheng² Duo. A further recording of Spanish works for cello and piano is already being planned.
This first disc makes the panorama of French chamber music written between the 1860s and the 1910s come alive in all its diversity: from multiple-movement works whose composers mainly drew on Beethoven and the German romantic composers, through to character pieces which formed part of the repertoire performed in sophisticated salons. Principal trends, some of which were devoted to one another by way of trenchant polemics, are represented by works of César Franck, Camille Saint-Saëns and his student Gabriel Fauré, as well as Claude Debussy. This release features two additional tracks, excerpts of Louis Francoeur's Sonata in E major in arrangements by Jean-Delphin Alard and Arnold Trowell, which are available as download. The performers have not only proved an instant success as Cheng² Duo - stepping in at short notice at Carnegie Hall and impressing both the audience and the promoter to the extent that they were immediately re-invited - but have also won renowned awards as soloists, each in their own right.
