Musica Viva’s dazzling Sydney debut for US piano duo ZOFO

One piano and two players with a dazzling array of manual skills — that’s the American duo ZOFO who are making their spectacular Australian debut.

American piano duo Zofo — Eva-Maria Zimmermann and Keisuke Nakagoshi — are making their Sydney debut for Musica Viva.

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One piano and two players with a dazzling array of manual skills — that’s the American duo ZOFO — Eva-Maria Zimmermann and Keisuke Nakagoshi — who are making their Australian debut on Musica Viva’s latest tour.

The name ZOFO is a pun on “20 Fingered Orchestra” and the duo have been playing together for 10 years. Their latest project, ZOFOMOMA, is an audiovisual spectacular re-imagining of Mussorgsky’s piano work Pictures at an Exhibition.

Japanese born Nakagoshi and Zimmermann, originally from Switzerland, commissioned 15 composers around the world to choose a painting which means something to them and to write a work inspired by it. This celebration of cultural diversity comprises pieces from France, Israel, China, Japan, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Poland, Switzerland, Iran, Cuba, Argentina, UK, America and Australia’s own Carl Vine, who chose a painting by the Australian surrealist James Gleeson,The Arrival of Implacable Gifts, for his piece.

DIVERSE

The 75-minute performance, in front of a large screen on which the paintings are projected, is linked by Nakagoshi’s own skilful variations of Mussorgsky’s Promenade theme which represents a viewer walking through an art gallery.

With music from 15 contemporary composers the styles are diverse — a cool and sparse duet for a mountainous Japanese landscape or a busy vibrant evocation of a Balinese street scene.

ZOFO are balletic in their performance. Intricate crossing of hands, swapping positions on the stool and “promenades” by one of the players between pieces all make for a fascinating display.

In one piece a handful of objects are dropped on the piano strings to give an ethereal wind chime effect, while a low electric pulse accompanies another work.

A street painting of a skeleton on a billboard in London makes for one of the most memorable moments as Zimmerman stands behind Nakagoshi stretching and interposing notes while he works his way slowly up and down the keyboard as the composer imagines the skeleton coming to life and walking up the hip, busy Shoreditch street.

The precision, skill and sheer vibrancy of this straight-through performance is something to behold. It’s different and it’s exciting.

The concert is repeated at City Recital Hall Angel Place on Saturday, May 25, at 2pm.

DETAILS

● CONCERT: ZOFO

● WHERE: City Recital Hall Angel Place

● WHEN: Monday, May 13