REVIEWS BY PIANO DUO
“Lovers of music know that it’s the playing spirit, the heart, that really matters, and Righini and Zadra have plenty of it. Having performed as a duo now for over 35 years, they are so utterly unified that they make the piano sound as if it were played by a 20-fingered virtuoso.
I thought I might miss the sonority and contrapuntal activity of a string quartet with an added viola, but this album held its own […]. Righini and Zadra draw from this instrument’s wide color palette through their method of attack and expressive dynamics.
[…] When this album concluded, I was reminded of Brahms’s friend Theodor Billroth, who wrote to the composer after first hearing the G-Major Quintet to say, ‘Today, in listening to your music, that is happiness.’ This album will certainly bring any listener a similar feeling, and so I heartily recommend it.”
Robert McClung — Fanfare Magazine
Issue 50:2, November/December 2026
Excerpts from the original review.
“A project that combines scholarly rigour, historical value and a genuinely fresh listening experience, inviting us to rethink the very meaning of transcription in nineteenth-century musical culture: not a mere reduction of the original, but a different perspective from which to understand and illuminate its structure.
The Righini–Zadra Duo reveals a profound assimilation of Brahms’s style: not two pianists sharing the same keyboard, but “a single musical organism” capable of breathing with complete naturalness, with polyphonic clarity, fine legato and a tonal balance of rare maturity. The choice of an 1860 Streicher also becomes an essential interpretative element, restoring transparency and a rich variety of tone colours to Brahms’s writing.
Artistic rating: 5/5”
“The two performers set out to explore the ‘pianistic’ nature of these works, bringing out their distinctive qualities and revealing the internal relationships within the writing with extraordinary clarity.
[…] The phrases unfold with an almost narrative fluidity, and it is precisely this apparent spontaneity that allows the complexity of the construction to emerge without being emphasised.
[…] What is most striking at the end of the listening experience is the coherence of the project. Nothing seems driven by antiquarian curiosity or a desire to offer an alternative interpretation at all costs. In the hands of these two performers, the transcriptions recover their original purpose: not to replace the original, but to offer a different perspective on it. As when viewing a building from an unexpected vantage point, some details disappear while others acquire a surprising clarity.”
20 September 2026
Excerpts from “L’architettura invisibile di Brahms” (“The Invisible Architecture of Brahms”), translated from the original Italian.
“The Righini–Zadra Duo approaches Brahms’s complex transcriptions of the String Quintets Opp. 88 and 111 with formidable technique, profound expressive insight and complete stylistic command. The works retain all their intensity and orchestral density, while the performers’ sensitivity illuminates Brahms’s writing in a new and vibrant light.”
“The keyboard arrangements offered another way to examine the works’ harmonic relationships, overlapping melodic lines and compositional structures. For Righini and Zadra, the transcriptions provide an opportunity to approach Brahms’s musical thinking from a different perspective, revealing details that can be less immediately apparent in the original string textures.”
20 October 2026
Excerpt from the original article.
Master yourself
