Zuk Duo Offers Inspired Performance in Montreal

By José Vásquez

On February 27, 2012 at Pollack Hall, Schulich School of Music at McGill University, the internationally-renowned Canadian-Ukrainian piano duo of Luba and Ireneus Zuk presented an ambitious, dynamic and eclectic programme to a large and enthusiastic audience.

The Zuk Duo treated their guests to a diverse repertoire of genres each highlighting the piano duo’s exquisite playing and mastery of classical and modern musical idioms.

The evening’s programme began with Franz Schubert’s Grande Sonata in B-flat from Opus 30.  The Zuks adeptly captured the piece’s charming youthful energy in their affectionate phrasing and carefully balanced ensemble performance, beautifully underscoring the passion of the melodic composition.

The concert also included Six pices ukrainiennes by Thodore Akimenko, a Ukrainian composer of international repute.

Later in the evening, Ireneus Zuk paid tribute to Professor Istvan Anhalt, former Director of Queen’s School of Music, who passed away on February 24 in Kingston, Ont.  The Zuk Duo also dedicated Akimenko’s November in Anhalt’s memory.

The Zuk Duo is recognized worldwide for their fervent advocacy of Canadian composers.  These merited artists have also received awards from the Ukrainian government for their “significant personal contribution to the popularization of Ukrainian culture in the World.”

As such, it would seem apt that they performed Concerto da Camera by the Ukrainian-Canadian composer George Fiala, Three Dances by Myroslaw Skoryk and In a Measure of Time by Ann Southam.

The Zuks once premiered these pieces and now have reinterpreted them with their hallmark artistry and evident mastery of technique that has captured so many beautiful nuances of style and tone colour.

Throughout the performance, the duo synchronized keyboard sonorities with lan, in delicate passages and stirring finales alike, each alive in chordal splendour.

At evening’s end, the performers were received with enthusiastic applause and elegant bouquets.  In turn, the Zuk Duo surprised the audience with an encore from the second movement “Andante” of the Sonatina by Ihor Bilohrud, based on a lyrical, lilting Ukrainian melody.

The eclectic programme and refined performance were an evident pleasure for the performers and for their audience.

José Vásquez is a McGill University graduate, musicologist and conservatory course instructor in Montreal.

PHOTO

The Zuk Duo – Luba and Ireneus Zuk