Four Hands One Piano | Duo Mimesi

Duo Mimesi play the Harold Lobb Concert Hall on Saturday 8 August, as part of the Newcastle Music Festival. It's a four-hands, one-piano set, so both players are on the same keyboard at once rather than trading off. The duo is made up of Federico Bucaioni and Gioia Barbera, an Italian pair who formed in 2022. They both graduated with highest honours and distinction from leading Italian conservatories, and they describe their playing as combining virtuosity, expressive depth and refined ensemble work.

The programme pulls from three different composers. They'll play Schubert's Theme and Variations, D 813 and Lebensstürme, D 947, Poulenc's Sonata for Piano Four Hands, and Rachmaninov's Six Morceaux, Op. 11. It's a broad spread: the Schubert brings the early Romantic side, the Poulenc adds some mid-century French wit, and the Rachmaninov rounds it out with that big, late-Romantic Russian sound. Having all three in one night gives you a decent run through a few different eras of piano writing.

This is the third programme of the Newcastle Music Festival, so it's one of several concerts the festival is putting on across the city. The venue is the Harold Lobb Concert Hall at the Conservatorium of Music on Auckland Street in Newcastle, and disabled access is available. If you're planning to head along, it's worth keeping in mind it's a Saturday night show, so you'll have the rest of the weekend to recover.