Lucas & Arthur Jussen

Trouw – 3 November 2012
Mozart/Handel
Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest
****
by Peter van der Lint

In the world of piano duos the laurelled French sisters Katia and Marielle Labèque are world famous. The Turkish Güher and Süher Pekinel – identical twins – have made a successful international career. And in the Netherlands we have Lucas and Arthur Jussen. They are no twins, but one would almost say they are, with their similar blonde haircut and identical dress suit. This is how the youthful Jussens ran down the stairs of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw for their debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on Wednesday evening – a debut as a duo, to be more precise.
Individually, Lucas (19) and Arthur (16) have performed this season with various Dutch orchestras. But as a duo they perfectly complemented each other this Wednesday evening. Their performance of Mozart’s Concerto for two pianos beautifully reflected the influence of their Portuguese coach Maria João Pires. Pires’ Mozart play has widely been praised for its unelaborated brightness, and that exactly was what one heard with the Jussen brothers. In service of the music, not at all surprising and completely well matched and left to each other. It was clear that the two young pianists are maturing musically as well and fortunately their cuteness is getting less important now. It was a magnificent debut with the country’s best orchestra playfully and lightly accompanying them, under the direction of Jan Willem de Vriend.
(…)

De Telegraaf – 2 November 2012
by Eddie Vetter
****

That afternoon they beautifully and four-handed played the piano at Joop Stokkermans’ funeral service in Laren, in the evening they debuted with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. The career of Arthur (16) and Lucas (19) Jussen has got on the move. With the greatest of ease they conquered the overcrowded Main Hall.
Because of the unusual cast, one does not often hear Mozart’s Concerto for two pianos and orchestra KV 36. One really needs such a homogeneous duo to realise even the finest details of the exciting play of give and take. The brothers selected a piece that is in their genes, as it were. In a natural way they catch the simplicity that marks the true one. Two minds with a single thought.
It is really amazing how they keep in pace with risky accelerations, stimulated by the orchestra under the direction of Jan Willem de Vriend. And the enthusiastic audience were given an encore: the Waltz from the First suite for two pianos op.15 by Anton Arensky, full of examples of a stunning ensemble.
(…)

De Volkskrant – 2 November 2012
Mozart and Handel. Lucas and Arthur Jussen (piano), Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest conducted by Jan Willem de Vriend. Amsterdam, Concertgebouw, 31/10.
by Guido van Oorschot

Some boys’ books are written while the main characters are still boys themselves – such as the Hilversum piano brothers Lucas (19) and Arthur (16) Jussen. Their agenda said 31 October was the day of their debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. However, before they could frolic up to the Amsterdam stage, they unexpectedly had to go to perform in Laren. At Joop Stokkermans’ funeral service they premiered his last notes… which the composer had actually written on their request.
Should the brothers have wrestled with any sad feelings, one did not notice it in the way they played Mozart that evening. On the contrary, warm and poetic the Concerto for two pianos KV 365 flowed through the hall. And during the encore, a Waltz by Arenski, amazing veils of notes drifted by.
By now, their career is becoming more and more serious, despite the fact that one is working hard to finish his pre-university education and the other still has to do many years of piano study in the United States. By the way, the Jussens are not always operating as brothers; they are very busy building their lives as individual musicians. This season they play piano concertos by Mozart and Beethoven with various regional orchestras – individually, as a soloist.
Today, it is hard to tell what direction the Jussen brothers’ career will take. What struck in particular, in Amsterdam, was the nonchalant ease with which they moved through Mozart. One did not hear a couple of rebellions who were going to turn the world of pianists around. The duo hooks on to a tradition which rather strokes the music from the keys than tortures them. Under their hands two pianos make up one single salving instrument, in which Arthur, the youngest one, has the mildest touch.
(…)

NRC Handelsblad – 1 November 2012
Arthur and Lucas Jussen with RCOA, conductor Jan Willem de Vriend. 31/10 Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
****
by Floris Don

This Wednesday, the piano brothers Arthur (1996) and Lucas Jussen (1993) made their debut for a full audience with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra playing Mozart’s Concerto for two pianos K365. Just as from a distance they seem to be twins, their play is so closely related. The musical internalisation of their coach Maria João Pires clearly reflects in the way they play Mozart, although one can say that, compared to Lucas’ bright touch, Arthur intonates somewhat darker and more muffled.
It is comforting that the brothers keep developing as musical personalities and can do without a cuteness factor.
(…)

Menahem Pressler not only is an extraordinary musician, he also is a great teacher. And no talent can thrive without a teacher. That is why in this most recent anniversary concert in the Recital Hall master and student meet in various ways for a festive programme centred on the future. Menahem Pressler not only celebrates his ninetieth birthday, surrounded by the young Fancy Fiddlers, but also performs together with his young Dutch student Lucas Jussen.
Lucas Jussen is the eldest of the Jussen brothers who over the last years are becoming a craze at the grand piano. Both together with his brother Arthur and as a solo player, Lucas Jussen features among the greatest future stars. The fact that in the Concertgebouw he stands next to Menahem Pressler has everything to do with the great store the Concertgebouw sets to young musicians. Not only in series such as Rising Stars and ‘Jonge Nederlanders’ (young Dutch musicians), but also in combination with renowned musicians who serve as an inspiring example.

Concert : 20 December 2013 – Kleine Zaal Concertgebouw

Sunday September 23th, 2012

In the Evening Concert on Radio 4 you can listen to the brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen. In the Vredenburg concert hall, a true Jussen Weekend was organised on these successful pianists. In Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh, among others together with the Rubens Quartet, they held a Schubertiade, focusing on Schubert in various instrumental casts.
Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata and the Trout Quintet are mirroring each other as it were. The Arpeggione Sonata mainly is dreamy and melancholic. The Trout Quintet, written during the carefree summer of 1819, radiates energy and optimism, written by a composer who obviously did not worry about the holy seriousness that surrounded chamber music in his time. With this diptych full of contrast, Arthur and Lucas Jussen and the Rubens Quartet demonstrate their versatile talents.

Arpeggione Sonate D821; Forellenkwintet D667; Fantasie D940; Strijkkwintet `Die Forelle` D667; Frühlingsglaube; Der Einsame; Der Jüngling und der Tod; Der Schiffer
Listen here to the concert of 22 September 2012, Leeuwenberg Utrecht

On Sunday 23 September, Arthur Jussen was the soloist in Ludwig van Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto. He was accompanied by the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic under the direction of Frans Brüggen in the Main Hall of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.
Listen here to the recording of the entire concert

Friday 21 September Lucas Jussen was the soloist at the Vrijdag van Vredenburg.
With the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic under the direction of Frans Brüggen, he played Ludwig van Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto.
Just before the concert was broadcast, Thea Derks spoke with Lucas on how he felt about being presented as the ‘Jussen brothers’ time and again, about his love for Beethoven and his collaboration with Frans Brüggen.

During the break Thea Derks spoke with Frans Brüggen about his work with Lucas Jussen and Beethoven’s music. ‘If Beethoven had lived now, he would have been called John Cage.’
Listen here the entire broadcast (Lucas starts playing at 34’00”), or the individual interviews.

An interview with Arthur on the eve of the three concerts he is going the give with the NNO

“I was very surprised to hear that I, just like my brother, was invited to play with the North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra. Really great!”
“The Piano Concerto by Grieg simply is a very nice piece, in the first place because of its virtuosity. That is what you are doing it for, being a pianist. And it also has a wide variety of atmospheres and moods, at times very bombastic or quite intimate. It is like racing through a rollercoaster.”
“Obviously, working with an orchestra is different from playing with Lucas. We know exactly what we can expect from each other. An orchestra is an entity consisting of so many different individuals which I do not know yet. That is quite exciting but I really look forward to it. We do have rehearsals first, don’t we? And then no less than three performances. Time enough to make something beautiful of it together!”

AD / Den Haag – April 10th, 2012
by Herman Rosenberg

What does one like the best of the piano playing brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen? Not that they are young (19 and 15 years) and almost look like twins. That is nothing new anymore. No, what makes a concert like the one given last Sunday in the Philips Hall so nice is the boys’ frankness and the utter absence of starlike airs. Yes, they are stars, but only when they are playing the grand piano. Once they get up and bow, they are just two ordinary Dutch lads, a little bit shy even.
Just like they said in an interview with this newspaper: for them there only is one thing that counts – the music. By Beethoven in this case. The Jussen brothers demonstrate why Deutsche Grammophon wanted to record their interpretations of this composer and why the CD got platinum. Their Beethoven sounds pure, bright and natural, and they show they are very receptive to the temperament of the master, who often was angry or sad but at times could also show a great sense of humour. In particular Lucas’ interpretation of the Sonata no. 17 “Sturm” was of a moving beauty.
In fact, the fourhanded pieces of music (something they have to do because everyone likes that so much) were a side issue. But in that too, the brothers demonstrated a great sense of style and timing. Lucas and Arthur did not know when to stop, as three encores followed after the concert.