An extravagant A&A Cembalo Duo is the only harpsichord duo in Russia. Its members, Kiskachi and Antonova, attended the best music schools in Moscow, Salzburg, Vienna, and Munich, and were awarded at the world’s major harpsichord competitions (the International J.S.Bach Competition in Leipzig, Musica Antiqua Brugge, the International Harpsichord Volkonsky Competition in Moscow, and the International Early Music Competition YAMANASHI in Japan and the SVIREL International Competition in Slovenia). A&A Cembalo Duo’s brilliant performance at the most prestigious music festivals earned them pan-European recognition. The European media praises them for musicality, intellect, mastery, and sense of humour.
“Anna Kiskachi and Anastasia Antonova are fantastic harpsichord players! Everything about them is fascinating, either their looks – а distinctive image! -- or virtuosity. They are the harpsichord players of the new kind, because they play not baroque music only, but music that doesn’t seem ‘appropriate’ for their instruments. But their bold approach makes those pieces – either forgotten or well-known – get a new voice, new sound, new colour”, Director of Graz festival Mathis Huber says. 

The debut A&A Cembalo Duo’s programme to be performed in Zaryadye Hall with a mystical “Danse Macabre” title represents the musical allegories of Madness, Love, Life and Death through dances composed in five centuries: from the Renaissance pavanes and galliards to the Hungarian passacaglia by György Ligeti. The “Danse Macabre” by Saint-Saëns tailored by A&A Cembalo Duo for two harpsichords is going to be icing on the cake. Some visual and individual background created by Vasily Bychkov will support each piece of the programme.

A conceptual programme the duo presents in “Zaryadye” is inspired by “Quartet for the End of Time”, a masterpiece of Olivier Messiaen. So, the four parts of the programme are four steps towards Apocalypses. 

“Kyrie eleison” from Bach’s Mass in B minor – arranged for two harpsichords – is hope and anticipation. 

Wars, battles, and fightings are reflected in harpsichord transcriptions of Handel and Biber, while pshychedelic “Harpsycho” by contemporary Czech composer Petr Wajsar and György Ligeti’s “Hungarian Rock” represent chaos. 

Dreams of perfect world and paradise on Earth can be found in nostalgic, though light, preludes of Bach. As in Messiaen’s quartet, all peripetias lead to the final of the program – Apocalypsis. 

The climax of the concert is 18th century pieces for harpsichord, andб properly, the 6th part of “Quartet for the End of Time”, and it will be the first ever performance of a bold transcription for two harpsichords!

The final of the programme is the famous Bach's Passacaglia C Minor (arranged for harpsichord four hands) that paves way from Earthly chaos to Heaven transcendency. The end of existence, the end of time…