The Naughton sisters - four hands, two pianos and one sound

The Naughton sisters - four hands, two pianos and one amazing sound with the NZSO

The sensational American pianists Christina and Michelle Naughton make their New Zealand debut in April with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

The twin sisters have been hailed as one of the best piano duos of the decade. Known for their electrifying and superb performances, they will play Mozart’s exhilarating Concerto for Two Pianos in Mozart & Mahler, the first of NZSO Music Director Edo de Waart’s Masterworks concerts for 2018.

Critics are in awe of the sisters’ performances. The San Francisco Examiner marvelled at their “stellar musicianship, technical mastery and awe-inspiring artistry.” The Washington Post’s reviewer described their piano arrangement of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring as “the most viscerally exciting, savagely percussive and daredevil-fast I have ever heard live.”

The Naughtons are graduates of the prestigious conservatories The Curtis Institute and The Julliard School. Acclaimed pianist Joseph Kalichstein, who taught the sisters at Julliard, declared: “When they play together, they seem to have one mind and one body—it's extraordinary—like one person with four two hands playing.”

“This sounds freaky, but there are times I forget we’re two people playing together,” Christina told The Wall Street Journal.

De Waart has known the sisters since they were students and has performed with them several times. “The sisters are marvelous musicians, charismatic and wonderfully talented.”

Mozart & Mahler, in Association with IHG (International Hotel Group), sees De Waart and the NZSO continue their performances of Gustav Mahler’s greatest works with his magnificent Fifth Symphony.

The Adagietto, the work’s fourth movement, is one of Mahler’s most recognisable and loved compositions. It has been played at significant events in history, including the funeral of Robert Kennedy. It has featured in films, including the Oscar-winning Death in Venice, and is a source of inspiration for both classical and popular music composers.

Legendary conductor Herbert von Karajan once said that when you hear Mahler's Fifth: “you forget that time has passed. A great performance of the Fifth is a transforming experience. The fantastic finale almost forces you to hold your breath.”

ENDS

Mozart & Mahler

EDO DE WAART Conductor

CHRISTINA & MICHELLE NAUGHTON Pianos

Mozart Concerto for Two Pianos in E flat major, K. 365
Mahler Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor

WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre | Friday 6 April| 6.30pm

AUCKLAND | Town Hall | Saturday 7 April| 7.30pm

DUNEDIN | Town Hall | Tuesday 10 April| 7.00pm

CHRISTCHURCH | Horncastle Arena | Wednesday 11 April| 7.00pm

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