Duo Turgeon

"This pair of Canadian pianists from Toronto is beginning to make a name for itself among the best current duos. This CD offers works for two pianos from Latin American composers, including an arrangement of the famous "Grand Tango" by Astor Piazzola. We hear works from Argentinean, Brazilian, Cuban and Mexican composers. The attraction of the pieces is typically Latin American : lively, rhythmic, enticing one to dance and have fun, but one also feels a certain nostalgia typical of this music.

These pieces were composed in classical style and musical structure, the composers having received classical European training. These melodies depart from their popular context to take on an altogether different life in the hands of these two excellent pianists. We feel in their playing a rigor and a control as well as the fire and the vivacity necessary to assure that these pieces do not become a simple pseudo–classical hodge–podge of sounds on Latin American themes but rather a transposition of one cultural spirit into another."
—Bruno Deschênes, in La Scena Musicale

“The husband–and–wife team Duo Turgeon play with hypnotic intensity”
—American Record Guide

“From the first note to the last it was a pleasure to hear these two natural musicians who breathe, think and play as one — and who don’t hit you over the head with an overload of two piano sound, as many two piano teams do. Let’s hope they come back soon”.
—The National Post, (Canada)

“The Canadian husband–and–wife team of Edward Turgeon and Anne Louise–Turgeon seem to have the balance just right. They play every piece beautifully, with plenty of life in the quicker music and with evident affection throughout; and they are very well recorded…quite lovely”.
—Soundstage.com

“The Duo Turgeon opened their recital strongly and cheerfully with Darius Milhaud’s spirited “Scaramouche” Suite. Their emotional openness and ability to communicate quickly forged a strong bond with the audience, a bond that worked to their advantage in the more challenging works ahead. The high point of the recital came with their performance of John Corigliano’s powerful “Chiaroscuro” for two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart”.
—The Toronto Star

“The Duo Turgeon is a husband–and–wife team with excellent blend and closely attuned artistic sense”.
—Austin American Statesman

“It was a revelation — one heard musical voices and personal statements in the two piano version that are not possible in the orchestral version (Brahms’ fourth symphony). They seem to have a natural affinity for Brahms, and each movement projected a loving involvement. The various structures were presented with great clarity, the tempos were well chosen, and the passion and warmth of the music embraced the listener. The audience stood and cheered at the end”.
—The Palm Beach Post

“It was a rare treat to hear how Stravinsky’s “Dumbarton Oaks” translates from chamber orchestra to two pianos. It sounded extraordinarily transparent in the “black and white” clarification of its polyphonic textures, courtesy of the Turgeons.”
—The Miami Herald

“Rhythms, nuances and orchestral crescendos oscillated freely between the two pianos of the young couple Anne and Edward Turgeon, in their attractive performance of George Gershwin’s “American in Paris”.
—La Presse, Montreal

“The Duo Turgeon impressed the 11 member jury even more with their pungent performance oif Carlos Surinach’s abrasively tangy “Flamenquerias” , and their sweepingly lyrical “Andante and Variations” by Robert Schumann”.
—Miami Herald

“The Duo Turgeon is a remarkably smooth and phenomenally capable pair. In Mozart’s “Andante and Variations” they were perfectly poised, wonderfully precise and engagingly sonorous. In Schubert’s superb “Fantasy in F minor, D. 940”, it was clear this duo understood what this powerful piece is about. They captured the sweet melancholy with an undercurrent of the tragic; in the stormy sections in between, they were completely on top of every technical requirement; and at the end, with the return of the main theme in its sudden modulation and excursion into the depths, they were stunning…

One has to mention the closing of the Mendelssohn “Allegro Brillant”, which was a veritable fusillade of notes and in which they were surpassingly brilliant, indeed. As more than one member of the audience remarked, this duo is like a single pianist with four hands. So well paired are they — perhaps too smooth. With such playing, one can get the impression that these extremely difficult pieces are a breeze! Of course they are nothing of the sort. This is simply a fabulously well—matched and capable team, who will surely become one of the notable duos of the day.”
—University of Waterloo Gazette

"...Speaking of fiery, Toronto’s MARQUIS label has just released the flamboyant and at times downright rambunctious "Latin American Journey"... pack your dancing shoes and fasten your seat belts for this passionate journey through Cuba, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil."
—Wholenote Magazine

“I liked everything about this CD. First of all, the repertoire. Its not all stereo–typical latin–American music. There is a nice, wide variety, with good differences in style, approach and sound. Anne Louise and Edward work very well together, with good ensemble playing, and fine feel for the rhythms and colors of latin America, as well as the expression. The recording is full and rich, capturing the two pianos nicely, especially the rich bass registers. Five out of five stars”
—Rick Phillips, on the CBC Radio Program "Sound Advice"

“The artistry and ability of this young husband–and–wife team were evident from the first sounds to the last in this delightful recital.”
—Rockford Register Star

“Sonority at its finest”
—Seaway News

“The piano duet team of Edward and Anne Louise–Turgeon dashed exuberantly through Mendelssohn’s “Allegro Brillant” and seemed to enjoy it as much as the audience did”.
—New York Post

“Marvelously executed by the Duo Turgeon, it (“Two Pianos”, by Timothy Sullivan) incorporates shimmering minimalism but with ever changing moods. At times the music floats in a dreamy suspension, at others it is jazzy and dance–like”.
—Wholenote Magazine

"Who says there are no great piano duos in North America" Vronsky and Babin, as well as Nemenoff and Luboschutz have their successors with four or five world– class piano duos, among which include Anne Louise and Edward Turgeon. Though this Canadian couple formed a duo in 1988, they continued to do solo appearances throughout the 1990’s, prior to opting, definitively we would like to hope, for this august formation, so delicate in every sense of the word. It demands, in addition, a good amount of discipline as well as professionalism, not usually the result of accidental encounters. Fragile also, since rare are the duos that endure for the life of a career, even with husband–and–wife duos. Intimacy and complicity are constantly meeting with confrontation and argument. When this mixture of fire and water attains an equilibrium in a constructive manner, we see a true artistic entity around a new instrument emanating from a common womb — the two pianos.

Obviously it is on this path that the Turgeon duo blossoms. Despite a Herculean program, well balanced with its alternating grand repertoire and contemporary music, this Canadian duo has demonstrated solid technique, a sense of nuances and contrasts and, even more importantly, an architecturally constructed approach. Their “Scaramouche” was a little jewel played with exquisite humor, appropriate theatricality, and in the last movement, a samba rhythm which few duos can render in such a free and dancing fashion.

While their styles are distinct, the works of Alexina Louie and John Corigliano shared a sound world reminiscent of Messiaen and Debussy. Impressionistic sonorities clearly illustrated this relation. In “Afterimages”, the songs of birds and bells appeared to swirl in the evening air. A reflection on the interval of a fifth preceded a quote from Chopin’s “Fantaisie Impromptu, Opus 66”. In “Chiaroscuro”, the ear must accustom itself to responses between pianos tuned a quarter–tone apart. Highly virtuoso in its series of scales, arpeggios and chords, this piece takes on the appearance of a game of musical chairs when one pianist gets up to join the other for a section of four—hand playing on one piano. After a full execution of the melody (in tune), blended with a Bach chorale, the other pianist leaves the common bench to commandeer the detuned piano.The piece de resistance of the recital was Johannes Brahms’ “Fourth Symphony in E minor, Op. 98”, in a composer arrangement discovered by the Stenzl piano duo in 1997. Anne and Edward Turgeon accomplished a true tour–de–force by giving much creative force during all four movements. Even though some sections are slightly different when compared with the orchestral version, a convincing interpretation quickly dispelled any desire to pursue a game of comparison.

The Turgeons have found their own vision, while maintaining a wealth of quasi–orchestral tones. As with the “Sonata for two pianos, Op. 34”, it appears that Brahms has succeeded with this combination, avoiding the trap of overly thick textures. The Duo Turgeon has thus demonstrated that far from being a bit of drawing room fancy, the two piano version unearths a composition of wonderful clarity, never compromising in matters of harmonic richness and dramatic substance.”
—Article title: “Duo Turgeon — on the Path of the Greats”, by Stephane Villemin, in La Scena Musicale.

“Subtle tugs on the invisible elastic that connects this duo created a seductive dance that left me panting. Tightly cohesive, their dramatic interpretations evoked duels, cooperation, negotiations, and perhaps even threats. This battle of equals stood apart from nearly all the other ensembles" (in reference to various ensembles performing in the 2010 San Francisco International Chamber Music Festival)”
—San Francisco Classical Voice