Philippe Cassard and Cédric Pescia, two soloists with great musical sensibility, are now performing as a duo. A first-prize winner at the 1988 edition of the Dublin Piano Competition, Philippe subsequently performed with famous ensembles (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre national de France, BBC Philharmonic), accompanied lieder singers and gave solo and chamber music recitals. In 1994 he was awarded the “Grand prix du disque” for his recording of all piano works by Debussy. Cédric was a laureate at the 2002 Gina Bachauer Competition held in Salt Lake City. Together with Philippe, he recorded four-hand works by Schubert on a CD that was named the “Choc de l’année 2014” by Classica magazine. Moreover, he performed in some of the world’s most famous venues, including Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall and Hamburg’s Musikhalle. Besides the above-mentioned CD with works by Schubert, he has also recorded compositions by Bach, Schumann, Beethoven, Couperin and Messiaen that were acclaimed by music critics. He has been teaching piano at the Haute école de musique in Geneva since 2012. On the occasion of the C. Bechstein concert, the Philippe Cassard/Cédric Pescia duo is to interpret Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in the four-hand transcription by Liszt — a work that the artists recently recorded on two C. Bechstein concert grand pianos at the Teldex studio in Berlin.
photo © Bernard Martinez
