Duo Eliot
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Szuhwa Wu, violin and Véronique Ngo Sach-Hien, piano
The violin and piano DUO ELIOT, known for its “fine balance between brilliance and elegance,” offers audiences new entry points for connecting to great art. The duo’s performance credits include the Musée de la vie romantique in Paris, the Musée des beaux arts in Besançon, and the Centre régional d’art contemporain in Montbéliard.
The duo takes its name from author T.S. Eliot, whose poetic collages represent a dizzying mosaic of allusions, images, and wit sampled across time and social strata. Similarly, DUO ELIOT presents a collage of repertoire ranging from Ravel, Biber, and Gershwin, to groundbreaking works by Boulez, Tutschku, and Hosokawa.
Committed to re-imagining live concerts, the duo’s creative programming offers audiences unforgettable and transformative experiences. Examples include a concert of the works by composers that Proust refers to in In Search of Lost Time interspersed with readings from the text, and a museum concert of works by Janacek, Webern, and Satie surrounded by master paintings of the period.
As members of the Ensemble de musique interactive, the Duo collaborates regularly with composers in creating works that employ innovative technologies. DUO ELIOT has performed works at the Musical Interactivity Festival at Miller Theater in New York City and at the Radio France Concert Hall.
Each artist has impressive credentials. Szuhwa Wu’s performance credits range from New York’s Lincoln Center to the Zurich Tonhalle, the Salzburg Mozarteum, and the National Theater of Taipei. And Veronique has performed at the Salle Cortot, and the Salle Chopin-Pleyel in Paris, and in England at Birmingham’s Town Hall, and St. Martin-In-The Field.
Professors at the Conservatoires de Besançon and Montbéliard, the artists are actively engaged in bringing music in lively form to all audiences, from designing imaginative in-school concerts to facilitating dynamic pre-concert discussions to their signature recital programs.
Programs
Programs can be adapted for a range of venues and series, but typically they are enhanced with commentary tailored to actively engage listeners and enliven their experience. Appropriate versions of these programs have also been tailored for school-age audiences as well as seniors, summer festivals, and radio broadcast.
Capturing Lost Time: Marcel Proust and music
Exploring the connection between with literature and music, this program recreates the musical universe of Marcel Proust’s masterpiece, A la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time). In the work, Proust frequently refers to music and the violin, echoing the structure of sonata form as he reveals the interior monologue of the listener, allowing us to remember and reconnect our core identities.
C. Saint-Saens - Sonata in D minor, Op. 75
G. Fauré - Berceuse 3’
R. Wagner - Isoldens Liebestod (arr. A. Ritter) ou Morgenlich leuchtend de Die Meistersinger (arrangement à faire?)
C. Franck - Sonate
Finding Oneself in Time: Past, Present, Future
en collaboration avec l’Ensemble de musique interactive
The Rosary (or Mystery) Sonatas c 1676 by H. I. F. Biber, portray the 15 Mysteries of the Rosary. These virtuosic works include unusual tuning of the instrument, opening up alternative worlds of resonance and vibration – worlds that Boulez and Tutschku also explore through digital technology in late 20th and 21st century in their works for solo instrument and electronics.
H. I. F. Biber - Rosary Sonata (selection)
H. Tutschku - Zellen-Linien pour piano et computer (20’)
P. Boulez - Anthèmes 2 pour violon et dispositif électronique (20’)
“Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future”
— T.S. Eliot, ‘Four Quartets’
Longing
This program features the stories behind some of the most compelling works: from Brahms and his romance with Clara Schumann, to Janacek’s 700 love letters, to Ravel’s mysterious? dedication of the Tzigane to a Hungarian violinist. Last but not least is the Shostakovich preludes, written at the time of a terrible personal drama: love and loss. We listen to music and we hear life.
J. Brahms - Sonate pour violon et piano en sol majeur, 33’
D. Shostakovitch - Quatre préludes 5’
L. Janacek - Sonate pour violon et piano en lab majeur 18'
M. Ravel - Tzigane pour violon et piano 11'
Années ‘20
Dubbed “The Jazz Age” in the U.S., “Les années folles” in France, and “The Golden Age” in Europe, the period between the two World Wars witnessed a dazzling burst of creativity throughout the arts. This program presents a snapshot of the eclectic music of the period, tracing the connections among and between the works of five seminal composers.
Gershwin -3 préludes 1926 (6’)
Prokofiev - 5 mélodies 1920 (13’)
Ravel - Sonate pour violon et piano 1922-1927 (18’)
Stravinsky - Duo Concertant 1932 (15’)
Shostakovitch - 4 préludes 1932 (5’) Polka de l'age d'or 1929-1930 (2)