Four Hands. Two Hearts. One Hope Anastasiia Larchikova & Mykhailo Diordiiev

• Zoltan Almashi (b. 1975): Carpathian Song:
• 1 Almashi: Carpathian Song 06:32
• John Corigliano (b. 1938): Gazebo Dances:
• 2 Corigliano: Gazebo Dances: I. Overture 03:59
• 3 Corigliano: Gazebo Dances: II. Waltz 02:33
• 4 Corigliano: Gazebo Dances: III. Adagio 04:54
• 5 Corigliano: Gazebo Dances: IV. Tarantella 02:31
• Myroslav Skoryk (1938 - 2020): 3 Extravagant Dances:
• 6 Skoryk: 3 Extravagant Dances: No. 1, Entrance and Dance ... Almost Hispano-Moresque 04:22
• 7 Skoryk: 3 Extravagant Dances: No. 2, Blues ... Almost American 05:54
• 8 Skoryk: 3 Extravagant Dances: No. 3, Can-Can ... As If from an Old Gramophone Record 03:25
• Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961): Romance, Etude & Chorale, Op. 134:
• 9 Liebermann: Romance, Etude & Chorale, Op. 134: I. Romance and Etude 08:06
• 10 Liebermann: Romance, Etude & Chorale, Op. 134: II. Chorale 08:23
• Bohdan Sehin (b. 1972): Ru-um-bambar:
• 11 Sehin: Ru-um-bambar 04:53
• Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956): Ring-a-Ding-Ding:
• 12 Gordon: Ring-a-Ding-Ding 03:34
• Total Runtime 59:06

Info zu Four Hands. Two Hearts. One Hope

This is the debut release of Ukrainian piano duo Anastasiia Larchikova and Mykhailo Diordiiev in "Four Hands. Two Hearts. One Hope": Ukrainian and American Music for Piano Duo. Producer Sergei Kvitko says, “this is a labor­-of-­love album with a young and very talented Ukrainian piano duo presenting a contemporary, but VERY accessible program of Ukrainian and American music — Americans are John Corigliano‘s Gazebo Dances, Ricky Ian Gordon‘s Ring-­A­-Ding­-Ding, and a world premiere recording of Lowell Liebermann‘s Romance, Etude and Chorale, Op. 134, which is the centerpiece of the album — a stunning and deeply moving work that was commissioned by Steinway as a wedding present to Lang Lang. The Ukrainian music is also splendid. This album features folk­-inspired Carpathian Song by Zoltan Amashi, composer, cellist and winner of the 2003 Lev Revutsky Prize; Three Extravagant Dances by the late Myroslav Skoryk, who was awarded the titles “The People’s Artist” and “Hero of Ukraine”, and whose Melody became an unofficial anthem of resistance in Ukraine and was used as a soundtrack for the video depicting the devastation of Russian invasion that President Zelenskyy showed to the US Congress in 2022; and lastly Ru­-um­bambar by Bodhan Sehin, who studied with M. Skoryk and whose music is highly textured, with Eastern European expressiveness.”

Anastasiia Larchikova, piano
Mykhailo Diordiiev, piano

Recorded at Blue Griffin’s Studio The Ballroom in Lansing, Michigan on February 24-26, 2025
Produced and engineered by Sergei Kvitko
Executive Producers: Marcia Martin and Sergei Kvitko

Anastasiia Larchikova
is a pianist from Ukraine. In 2021, she completed her Bachelor’s degree, and, in 2023, she obtained her Master’s degree from the National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv. She is currently a student at the Kunstuniversität Graz in Austria, studying with Professor Peter Jozsa. She received a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture of Austria (2024) to study there. She has participated in many international festivals, and is a prizewinner at many international and all­-Ukrainian competitions, recently including: 2nd prize at the All­Ukrainian Competition “Interpretation of Contemporary Music” in the “Chamber Ensemble” category (Ukraine, 2021); 2nd prize at the International Music Competition organized by the Association Les Musicales du Centre (France, 2022); and Semi­finalist at the Alicante International Piano Competition (Spain, 2024).

Mykhailo Diordiiev
is also a Ukrainian pianist. He is a student at the National Music Academy in Kyiv (Prof. Natalia Gridneva), but is currently studying at Kunstuniversität Graz in Austria, with Professor Peter Jozsa. He has twice received a scholarship from the President of Ukraine (2020­21, 2021­22). He also received a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture of Austria (2023). Mr. Diordiiev has played concerts in Ukraine, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Belgium and Estonia. He is a winner of many international piano competitions, such as: Grand Prix at the International Virtual Competition organized by ConcertFestival.org (USA); 3rd prize at the International Music Competition organized by Association Les Musicales du Centre (France); and 2nd prize at the Samson François International Piano Competition (France).

Booklet für Four Hands. Two Hearts. One Hope