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SPINA & BENIGNETTI PIANO DUO
with Eleonora Spina & Michele Benignetti
27 February 2025 | Odeion | 19:00
The spirit of music courses through the veins of Eleonora Spina and Michele Benignetti. Coming from a strong musical lineage with backgrounds as soloists and chamber musicians, Eleonora and Michele’s partnership as a piano duo took off in 2013 and was met immediately with positive critical acclaim. In June 2014, they were unanimously awarded the prestigious Diplôme Supérieur d’Exécution at the Ecole Normale De Musique Alfred Cortot (Paris), under the supervision of Chantal De Buchy.
Lifelong learners, they received master’s degrees with honours, in 2019, at the Maastricht Conservatory of Music - Zuyd University (the Netherlands). They also studied at the Universität für Musik in Graz (Austria). They were awarded the Gold Medal at the Manhattan International Music Competition (New York) and at the Global Music Awards (USA), they were winners of numerous competitions dedicated to chamber music and piano duo, among which, the Pietro Argento Competition (Italy), London Piano Masters - Royal College of Music (UK), Virtuoso Grand Prize Competition (France) Concours Musical de France (France), International Artists Competition in Vienna.
Their concert activity has seen them perform in concert halls throughout Europe and across the Globe. Repeatedly invited to play in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, their tours have always been surrounded by great success with audiences and critics.
Their acclaimed 2015 recording of Brahms’s complete works for two pianos for Brilliant Class Records has been praised by audiences and critics alike. The album ‘Lifetime’ followed in January 2017. Released by Sheva Collection, it went on to win Gold Medals for Best Album, Best Duo, and Best Emerging Artists at the 2017 Global Mu Awards in La Jolla, California (USA). The third album ‘Visions’ was also released on Sheva Collection, the London-based label, in July 2021. In September 2022, the album “Schubert’s Music for Piano Four Hands” was released with Apple Digital Masters certification, by UK label Ulysses Arts, featuring Schubert’s major works for piano duet and transcription of the Trout Piano Quintet D667 for piano four hands. In October 2024, the new album “Transcriptions for Piano Four Hands” was released by Piano Classics.
Eleonora and Michele are professors currently teaching at the Cité de la Musique et de la Danse in Soissons (France). They are often invited to give masterclasses at the Summer International Academy of Colombes and at the Summer Arts Academy of Flaine (France), at the Beijing International Music Institute and Tianjin School of Music (China), at Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music in Melbourne (Australia), UNAM Facultad de Musica and Conservatorio Nacional (Mexico City), at the University of Costa Rica and the Conservatorio Nacional (Guatemala City).
The Spina-Benignetti Piano Duo is an Official Yamaha Artist.
www.spinabenignetti.com
PROGRAMME: Transcriptions
César Franck (1822 – 1890): Prélude, Fugue et Variation Op. 18, transcription for piano four hands by A. M. Decaux
Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886): Les Préludes, transcription for piano four hands
Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883): Tannhäuser Ouverture, transcription by Hans von Bülow
Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937): Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, transcription by Lucien Garban
Maurice Ravel: La Valse, transcription by Lucien Garban
Tickets available at Quicket (R100 adults, R50 pensioners, students and children)
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Odeion School of Music (36), Box 339, Kanseliers Ave, 9300 Bloemfontein, South Africa, Bloemfontein, South Africa
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