Pascal Amoyel

Pascal Amoyel and Dimitris Saroglou 2 pianos or 4 hands

Nowadays, improvisation is almost exclusively practised by jazz musicians. And yet, long before jazz, improvisation was the prerogative of composers of so-called "classical" music.  Audiences came from far and wide to hear something new, something new! 
Do we know, for instance, that Mozart did not play his own sonatas in concert, but improvised at will on his keyboard? That Liszt improvised during entire concerts on themes given by and in front of an audience dumbfounded by such audacity, poetry and virtuosity? That Chopin liked to read poems before letting his imagination wander on his Pleyel? Promised a great career as an actor, he excelled particularly in pantomime and imitations!
Judge for yourself: it's 22 December 1808 in Vienna, it's 6.30pm. Beethoven arrives on stage with a nonchalant step. He was about to give what was to become one of the most famous concerts in history: he conducted the first performance of his 5th Symphony and his Pastoral, played the solo part of his 4th piano concerto, but did not fail to conclude this concert-fest, which lasted more than 4 hours, with a half-hour long improvisation! Czerny said that anyone who has not heard Beethoven improvise cannot truly appreciate his genius...
Closer to home, Debussy, Ravel, Bartok and Stravinsky used to improvise for hours before writing down the notes.

Great duels were organised throughout history to salute and highlight the performances of these artists: Bach versus Marchand, Handel versus Scarlatti, Mozart versus Clementi or Liszt versus Thalberg, competing creatively on musical or literary themes and unheard-of challenges from the public. 

Following their success at the Festival de la Roque-d'Anthéron in 2020 at the initiative of René Martin, two great performers of today, Pascal Amoyel and Dimitris Saroglou, are keen to perpetuate this tradition, which has unfortunately been lost and which has been the highlight of concerts throughout history, and which enthused those who were lucky enough to attend.