Shoko Hayashizaki & Michael Hagemann: BEETHOVEN TRANSLATED

For over 36 years, the Japanese-German piano duo Hayashizaki - Hagemann has been among the most versatile and creative representatives of its genre.

The duo studied in the piano class of Prof. Robert-Alexander Bohnke at the University of Music in Freiburg im Breisgau and gave its first concert in 1984 in Monfalcone, Italy. Since then, the piano duo has conceived and presented many innovative program concepts such as "A Ray of Light has Touched Me" (Alma Mahler-Werfel and her blind composition teacher Josef Labor), "Hurry of Life," "The Last Harem," or "Reading is Dangerous." These concert readings led to joint performances with actresses Alicia Aumüller, Alrun Herbig, Sandra Maria Huimann, Vera Lippisch, the married couple Maria and Peter Warkentin, authors Elazar Benyoëtz, Karl Corino, Peter Prange, and author Katrin Dorn.

Special attention was given to concerts for the 100th birthday of Alexander Skrjabin and interpretations of Richard Wagner's "Parsifal" in four-handed compositions by Engelbert Humperdinck, among others, in Reykjavik and Leipzig. Another focus is the collaboration with numerous choirs. Performances included works such as Saint Nicolas Cantata by Benjamin Britten, Symphony of Psalms by Igor Stravinsky, Petite Messe Solennelle by Gioachino Rossini, Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, Schicksalslied, Ein Deutsches Requiem, Nänie, Gesang der Parzen, Alt-Rhapsodie, Liebeslieder, and Neue Liebeslieder by Johannes Brahms.

The repertoire recorded on sound carriers ranges from tangos in the refreshingly cheeky arrangement for piano four hands and percussion to the "Hamadryades" by Belgian composer Jacqueline Fontyn and the traffic light suite "Zebrastreifen über Kreuz" by Michael Frank Hagemann. The CD "Alma Mahler-Werfel und Josef Labor" received the Pasticcio Prize from the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation in 2007. Composers have written works for the duo – currently, British composer John Palmer and Argentine pianist and composer Horacio Lavandera. The premiere of a new composition by Volker Ignaz Schmidt is in preparation. A special experience is the live Shodō performance for clavichord and Japanese calligraphy.