CONCERT | Duo Gianfranco Pappalardo, Giulio Potenza: the Piano Four Hands

Duo Gianfranco Pappalardo, Giulio Potenza, the Piano Four Hands: Two Centuries of European Musical Dialogue

A refined and coherent programme that spans two centuries of European musical history, placing the piano four hands repertoire at the centre as a privileged space for dialogue, intimacy, and large-scale musical architecture. The proposed journey traces the evolution of the genre, from aristocratic entertainment to a deeply expressive art form, culminating in its brilliant twentieth-century reinterpretation.

The concert opens with Johann Christian Bach, the celebrated “London Bach,” a key figure of early Classicism. The Sonata in F major, Op. 18 combines galant elegance, formal clarity, and theatrical brilliance, offering luminous and communicative music that immediately highlights the balance and complicity between the two pianists.

With Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the programme enters the heart of Viennese Classicism. The Sonata in D major, K. 381 is a masterpiece of freshness and formal perfection, in which the dialogue between the two parts is continuous and lively. Here, the piano four hands becomes a true laboratory of melodic invention and expressive exchange, animated by a distinctly chamber-music spirit.

The emotional core of the programme is entrusted to Franz Schubert and his monumental Fantasia in F minor, D. 940, one of the absolute pinnacles of the four-hands repertoire. An work of profound poetic intensity, it alternates intimate lyricism with tragic drama, merging the two performers into a single, shared musical breath. It is music of confession, memory, and deeply moving beauty.

The programme concludes with Francis Poulenc, who brings the genre into the twentieth century with his Sonata in C major. Irony, cantabile lyricism, and sudden expressive surges coexist in a style that looks to the past with modern intelligence. Poulenc closes the programme with elegant lightness and unmistakable French spirit, without sacrificing emotional depth.

Taken as a whole, the programme offers a musical journey of great charm, balance, and expressive variety, restoring to the piano four hands repertoire its full historical and poetic richness.

Program

J. CHRISTIAN BACH
Keyboard Sonata for Piano Four Hands in F major, Op. 18, W. A20

F. SCHUBERT
Fantasia in F minor for Piano Four Hands, D. 940

W. A. MOZART
Sonata for Piano Four Hands in D major, K. 381

F. POULENC
Sonata in C major for Piano Four Hands

Biography

The Sikelia Piano Duo was formed through the collaboration of pianists Gianfranco Pappalardo Fiumara and Giulio Potenza, internationally renowned concert performers and professors at the Palermo State Conservatory. Both trained at the most prestigious Italian and European musical institutions (Milan, Brussels, London), they have developed a profound musical understanding and sensitivity that results in refined and engaging interpretations.

Their repertoire ranges from Bach to works of the 20th century. Their performances are characterized by deep mutual understanding and musical communication.
In 2025 and 2026, they will perform in prestigious theaters and concert halls (Teatro Massimo in Palermo, the Greek Theatre of Taormina) and tour Asia, Europe, and America, appearing in major venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Bucharest Athenaeum, and the Sorbonne in Paris.