Lüdenscheid, October 2001

The Trivella Twins-such gifted musicians

We could have listened to them for hours

Their piano playing is awesome and original. With every note you can tell how much they loved to play. When Davide and Daniele Trivella play, caress or strike their pianos, when they pamper them, push them, evoke a lyricism or an explosion of primitive emotions—elegance combines with an striking interpretation, poetic expressiveness to an amazing virtuosity.
With their program and their brilliant musical dialogue they have become a success in Europe and in The United States.
The duo piano had a vast repetoire: Schubert, Schönberg, Martinu, Zabel, Poulenc, Sollima.

( Westfälische Rundschau )

“Konzertfreunde” Reitstadel - Neumarkt, November 2003

Two awesome musicians
The twins were extraordinary

Whoever still believes that all a pianist has to do is push the right keys at the right moment, would have to take it all back Thursday night at the Reitstadel in Neumarkt. The concert by the twins Davide and Daniele Trivella on two pianos and what they did with the instruments was something not be missed. It is enough to say that they were positioned at a 90 degree angle, with their backs to each other and to the audience—a rather unusual position, which made it hard to imagine they could synchronize, but they were incredibly synchronized. This was a must, given the difficult works they chose to play: works for two pianos by Gershwin, Poulenc, Piazzolla and Trovesi.

In the Tango suite by Astor Piazzolla ( transcribed for the piano by the Trivella twins) the two pianos begin to emit sounds as if they were musical bodies, they withstood rough treatment and plucking the strings as if they were in an arpeggio –like style, they had a refined play of the pedals and they suggest breaths and the music expands, and they literally move from one piano to the other.

It is truly fascinating to note the ease, as the music gets louder, the second pianist moves to the second piano.

Even the Cuban Overture by Gershwin ran right through your blood with a resounding rumba rhythm which, strangely, reached its feverish and captivating sound through the combination of the pianos and maracas (played by one pianist!) “Hercab” by Gianluigi Trovesi ( transcribed for the piano by the Trivella twins) also dwells in the enchanting realm by the way the two pianos are played as keyboard instruments, with the strings plucked and percussion-style. The rigor of the constant swinging from one octave to another surrounded by moments of improvisation of South American ballroom music, captivates and then, in the final moments, leaves the audience in deep concentration.

( Mittelbayerische Zeitung )

“Meister von Morgen” Werner Richard Saal- Herdecke, January 2003

Davide and Daniele Trivella bring down the house

In the “Divertissement à l’hongroise“ by Schubert the pianists melt into one single person. The “Fantasisie” by Bohuslav Martinu was interpreted by the twins in full strength and vitality. With their charm of two playful rascals, they played variations that left the audience breathless, demonstrating a clear joy they felt for the music. The highpoint was the “Subsongs” by Giovanni Sollima, which the twins transcribed for the piano.
Here the twins were in their own element, they enchanted the audience with humor and creativity. They passed swiftly from one piano to the other, and the sound did not come just from the keys of their pianos-- they plucked the strings and turned their pianos into rhythmic instruments. The twins reached inside their pianos, showing their extraordinary talent. Only the title of the performance was off- target: the two are not “Tomorrow’s geniuses” but already at their young age, “Today’s geniuses.”

( Rundschau fur Wetter und Herdecke )

Mozart gesellschaft - Dortmund, September 2004

The twins played the piano like two Don Giovannis

Davide and Daniele Trivella are not your everyday duo piano
They are twins who have already created a “scandal” by playing with their backs turned toward each other.
These twins seem to be on the same wave-length, even with their eyes closed.
Mozart’s sonata KV 488 for two pianos was, when played by these musicians, impetuous and sparkling. The last part was played with lightning speed and the effect was striking. They were completely synchronized, both in the “fraseggio” and in the “articolazione.”
The strong emotions of the twins rendered Liszt’s Reminiscenze on Mozart’s Don Giovanni, the high point of the evening. Sweetly, even shyly, their Don Giovanni courts Zerlina and with effervescence they invite us, with a sparkling like champagne, to Don Giovanni’s party, transforming it into a festival with 176 keys. A piece that beautifully illustrated the musicality of the two pianists is the “Varitions and fuga on a theme by Mozart” op. 132 by Reger. Like two architects they paid tribute to this monumental work.

( Ruhr Nachrichten )

Prinznregententheatre - Muenchen, March 2003

Sometimes two is the right number

Their tangos were striking with their intricate inter-weaving of hands in the Piazzolla-like way and even “Subsongs” by the Italian, Giovanni Sollima.
The humor, the sophistication and the nearly theatrical performance of the duo piano, in all the situations of life, was striking. The twins create, as if by magic, the sound of a guitar and of percussions. At the end they reach into the piano and pluck the strings, with great talent.

( Helmut Mauro - Suddeutsche Zeitung )

“Konzertfreunde” Reitstadel - Neumarkt, November 2003

Loneliness under cold stars
New transcriptions made by the twins for the piano

The brothers Davide and Daniele Trivella, two Italians, winners of endless competitions, are creating a scene-- alongside Kontarsky, Làbeque and Pekinel. Others began their careers with Czerny or Bernstein, the Trivella twins do wonders with the tangos of Piazzolla now at the Reitstadel in Neumarkt.
They began their playing of the tango suite as if they were playing Satie: worlds that are distance, remote, full of loneliness under cold stars. But the Trivella twins, who play with the utmost classical precision, prefer to combine the freedom to improvise, an experiment that is carried out perfectly (even with the instrument), their intricate playing is beautifully executed in such a way that in the end it explodes into an intoxicating, grandiose circus game. They change pianos right in the middle of the piece, they play selfishly for themselves and they are, however, a miracle of duo precision in their rendering of the tangos—just breathtaking!
Furthermore, both are absolutely in their own world when they pluck the notes by sliding above the strings and around the wings of the piano and setting off a burst of extraordinary sounds.

Bellowing lightning rods of rhythm

With Schubert’s Fantasia D940, written the year of his death, for two pianos on one of the two Steinway and Sons of the Reitstadel, the two men, elegant in their long flowing frocks, search for and find a great deal of romantic poetry, they touched off an explosion of sounds and have a Chopin-like style without the least kitsch sentiment.
In the sonata by Poulenc, Davide and Daniele Trivella performed like two mavericks in complete synchrony. The full force is not merely expressed just by the crescendo with a flirting twinge, no the Trivella twins are not two sentimental musicians, but two serious musicians who pride themselves on their talent and on the piece they play.
They know how to make their audience really enjoy their playing as well.
An genuine ovation when they play Gershwin as if we were at Carnival in Havana.

( Uwe Mitsching )