Fiammetta Tarli & Ivo Varbanov (piano duo)

Fiammetta Tarli (piano)

Ivo Varbanov (piano)

Fingal’s Cave

Fiammetta and Ivo have chosen some of the most unforgettable pieces for piano four hands for this captivating Romantic programme.

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) 

Rondo in A major, Op. 107 D 951 for piano four hands (1828) - Allegretto quasi andantino

Felix Mendessohn (1809-1847)

 Die Hebriden (1829-30), Op. 26, piano four hands, version by F. Mendelssohn

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) 

Bilder aus Osten (Pictures from the East) - 6 Impromptus for piano four hands, Op. 66 (1848)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

From 21 Hungarian Dances (1858-1868), 1st cahier: No. 1: Allegro molto [3 mins.] No. 5: Allegro

Edward Grieg (1843-1907) 

Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, piano four hands, version by E. Grieg (1874-75)

Please note, this is a lunchtime concert, with the music starting at 1pm.

Ivo Varbanov and Fiammetta Tarli are experienced concert pianists and musicians with a passion for unconventional music production of the highest quality. When in 2013 they joined forces and started performing as a piano duo, a chemistry of musical personalities was immediately evident beyond their bond as husband and wife. Their encounter at the house of Ilona Deckers in Milan, an eminent Hungarian teacher, explains their refined central European sound culture; yet in many aspects they seem to complement each other in rich textures of a never-ending dialogue. Despite their success as a duo, they have not ceased their performing activity as soloists and in various other chamber music formations.

Highlights of their engagements include performances at Cadogan Hall and St John Smith Square (London), West Road Concert Hall (Cambridge), Royal Concert Hall, New Auditorium (Glasgow), Honeywell Music Room (Oxford), St Georges (Bristol), Tianjin Concert Hall (China), Philharmonic Hall Gdansk, Poland (Gdansk Philarmonic Orchestra), Sala Bulgaria, Sofia (Sofia Soloists in the Sofia Philharmonic Season: première of Diptych of Light and Time, Concerto for two pianos and string orchestra composed for Fiammetta and Ivo by Martin Georgiev), Varna Opera House (Varna Philarmonic Orchestra), Shumen Symphony Hall (Shumen Philarmonic Orchestra), and at festivals such as 'Brahms Unwrapped' at the Kings Place (London), Wye Valley Music Festival (United Kingdom), 'Conciertos Temáticos' in Santander (Spain), the International Chamber Music Festival 'Konvergencie' in Bratislava, Piano Extravaganza (Sofia), Les concerts du foyer Européen (Luxembourg), Ohrid Summer Festival (Macedonia), Apollonia Festival of Arts (Bulgaria), Sofia Music Weeks (Bulgaria, 2024) Guangzhou Opera House (Zhuhai, China, 2024), Season of the Sanremo Symphonic Orchestra (2025), Britten Theatre (Royal College of Music, London, 2025), and Urumqi Grand Theatre (China, 2025).

In London Fiammetta and Ivo have founded a new audiophile record label: Independent Creative Sound and Music (ICSM Records). They have recorded for ICSM Records as well as Hyperion Records and Lorelt Records. Their recordings have received wide acclaim by the international press (International Record Review, Rivista Musica, Fanfare, Observer, Klassisk Musikkmagasin, HI-FI+).

In the next concert season (2025-2026) Fiammetta and Ivo will perform in China, Bulgaria, Great Britain and Italy.