Biography
"An impressive complete edition!", this is how the French ClicMusique! Magazine described the new triple album of Genova & Dimitrov «Carl Reinecke • Complete Works for 2 Pianos» (cpo). Just before reaching the top position in the classic charts within only one week, the Frankfurt Radio announced these world premiere CD recordings „Best Surprise of the Music Year 2022“, the Luxembourg Pizzicato pointed out the „Vital and Inspired
Interpretations“ and the German Klassik Heute awarded it with its top Triple Ten 3x10 score.
The story of the Genova & Dimitrov piano duo sounds somewhat of a fairytale:
«Shortly before leaving to Korea for a solo piano competition, there was only one available rehearsal room at the Hanover University of Music and it was with two pianos. We spontaneously decided to start to play a Chopin Etude in sync. It was as if we had been given wings!», remember Genova and Dimitrov.
Only few months later, at the end of 1995, the two young musicians caused a matchless sensation by winning the four great international piano duo competitions in Munich („ARD“), Miami („Dranoff“), Tokyo, and in Caltanissetta („Bellini“) within the following two years.
Since then, Aglika Genova and Liuben Dimitrov are one of the most internationally sought-after piano duos. They have been celebrated both, by audiences and the press alike, performing on the most important concert and festival stages in several douzens of countries on all continents, such as the Library of Congress and the National Gallery in Washington, the Schleswig-Holstein, Rheingau, Ludwigsburg and Schwetzingen Festivals, the City Hall in Cape Town, the Herkulessaal Munich, the Liederhalle Stuttgart, the Gstaad Music Festival, and MDR Music Summer, at the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Beethovenhalle Bonn, the Cologne Philharmonic Hall, and the Passau European Music Weeks, as well as at the La Roque d’Antheron, the Al Bustan Music Festival Beirut, Casals Hall Tokyo, Poly Theatre Beijing, and Teatro Municipal Rio de Janeiro, at the Ravello Festival, the Woodstock Mozart Festival, the Festival Miami, and the Chopin Piano Festival Duszniki.
Under the direction of conductors like Charles Dutoit, Eiji Oue, Ari Rasilainen, Hannu Lintu, Stefan Blunier, Yuri Bashmet, John Carewe, Emil Tabakov, Alun Francis, Ulf Schirmer, Woiciech Rajski, Yordan Kamdzhalov, Robin Gritton, Radoslaw Szulc, Alexander Kalajdzic, Gabriel Feltz, Alexander Rudin, Andreas Herrmann, and Johannes Schlaefli, Genova & Dimitrov have appeared with international leading orchestras and choirs.
Since 2009, Genova & Dimitrov have been appointed Heads of Piano Duo Studies at the Hanover University of Music, the same one which they graduated from in the postgraduate class of Vladimir Krainev. They serve regularly as jurors of significant international competitions, such as the „ARD“ Music Competition in Munich, and were appointed Artistic Directors of the „Dranoff“ International Two Piano Competition in Miami. The Artists give master classes worldwide, both for piano solo and duo.
In addition, they have appeared in numerous international TV and Radio broadcasts. The portrayal TV documentary movie «Etude for Two Pianos» which has been produced and broadcasted by the BNT Bulgarian National Television in occasion of the 20th Birthday Anniversary, enjoys worldwide brisk interest.
Genova & Dimitrov look at an impressive discography - 18 CDs of the Duo have been released by «cpo» and «Gega New», and have been given constantly glowing reviews and awards by the international music media. Besides a number of world premiere recordings, such as Victor Babin's Concerto, or the complete piano duo works of Dmitri Shostakovitch, Johann Christian Bach, Muzio Clementi, and Pantcho Vladigerov, also the Artists' recordings with orchestra caused true sensation, such as the Concertos of Carl Czerny, Max Bruch, Bohuslav Martinu, Alfred Schnittke, Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, Robert Casadesus, Felix Mendelssohn, and Bela Bartok. The albums with works by Gershwin, Copland, and Bernstein („America for Two“), Ravel („Favourite Flavors“), Arensky („Five Suites for Two Pianos“) or Liszt („Works for Two Pianos“) are enjoying great popularity in the music world.
The Artists are winners of the ECHO CLASSIC Award for their CD «Bartok & Babin • Concertos for Two Pianos» and of the CHOC DE CLASSICA for «Amy Beach • Complete Works for Piano Duo». Numerous albums of the Duo were nominated for the German Record Critics Award and for the OPUS CLASSIC Award.
The world premiere recording «Sergei Rachmaninoff • Complete Works for Piano Duo» (cpo) with nearly 150 min. music both, at 2 pianos and 1 piano 4-hands reached immediately No.1 in the charts and was celebrated among others by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Newspaper as "Easter for Four Hands" as well as crowned with the "Star of the Month" of FONO FORUM Music Magazine. As "Revolutionary" described DIE ZEIT Newspaper the recent CD of Genova & Dimitrov «Amy Beach • Complete Works for Piano Duo" (cpo) and DIE WELT am Sonntag Newspaper raved about this "Box of Noblest Chocolates". BBC Music Magazine concluded its euphoric review about the world premiere recording with "A Must-Hear Album".