All the Press

American Dream is featured on “Sunday Classical,” the new releases program on the renowned radio station WRTI.

" The music, fervent, original, and unaffected, unfolds with a certain panache (...) The two pianists, Ludmila Berlinskaïa and Arthur Ancelle, the festival's artistic directors, are fully committed.

(...) In the second part, Olga Viktorova presents her work in the form of a friendly exchange with Arthur Ancelle, explaining that the title refers to a pair of shoes belonging to her, and that she sought to paint a portrait of two pianists who are “gentle, joyful and funny.” Humor runs through all three movements—even extending to the use of plastic hammers in the finale—without excluding more introspective passages, such as a fugue in the middle movement highlighting the bassoon, cello, and viola, before the strings take over in a more lyrical episode. If this concerto had to be summed up in one word, it would be: joy. And to close the evening, the Berlinskaïa-Ancelle duo maintained the joyful tone of the program to the very end, offering Madeleine Dring's Danza Gaya as an encore."

"After Beethoven's Quartet Op. 18 No. 1 (...) performed by the Danel Quartet, we are treated to Dmitri Shostakovich's sublime Piano Trio No. 2. The commitment of the musicians (Mikhail Kopelman, Boris Andrianov, and Ludmila Berlinskaya), the balance between the three instruments, and the beauty of the score make this Trio's performance a great moment of music."

“Ludmila Berlinskaya, daughter of Valentin Berlinsky, plays the piano part. In the opening of the Andante, she offers a moment of pianistic levitation: a marvel of legato and charm, one of those moments of pure relaxation that one wishes could last forever.”

"Arthur Ancelle & Ludmila Berlinskaya shine American piano dreams!"
American Dream is "Album of the Week" for Belgian radio VRT

American Dream is featured on the program “Concerto” on Swiss radio station SRF.

" At the center: Ludmila Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle. Two pianists who play as if they have nothing to lose. Sometimes, listening to them, one gets the impression that the two are sitting opposite each other at the piano and have forgotten that the microphones are running. They listen, laugh, flirt, argue – all via the keys. A duo like this is a stroke of luck. The Orchestre Victor Hugo? Solid and colorful. (...) The pianists throw themselves into it as if their lives depended on it. (...)  And what remains after listening? Above all, amazement. This music—by Suesse, Beach, and Babin—deserves to be played more often. Berlinskaya and Ancelle are more than just performers; they seem to be true believers. They play with brilliance, yes, but also with soul. (...) So this CD is not just a recording, it is a reference. (...)  And best of all, this CD doesn't sound like “required listening for specialists,” but like music that is simply a pleasure to hear. Lively, surprising, sometimes a little unwieldy, but always gripping. In short: a real discovery."

"Ludmila Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle revel in this brilliant writing, which ultimately makes the work as unclassifiable as it is endearing (...) The demands are commensurate with the virtuosity of their creators. Today, Ludmila Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle playfully avoid pitfalls, infusing everything with poetry and a touch that is by turns light and profound."

"Ludmila Berlinskaya : la musique en héritage" - Portrait of Ludmila Berlinskaya in French Magazine Cadences

"Dana Suesse's concerto also opens Ludmila Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle's new CD, which is bursting with energy and inspiration."
"Two festivals and a record: pianist Ludmila Berlinskaya's busy fall season" - Portrait of Ludmila by French newspaper La Croix

Interview of the duo about American Dream

"American Dream: colorful, diverse, and brilliantly played" : Felix Kriewald shares his enthusiasm on our album American Dream on the German radio.

Anna Sigalevitch praises American Dream in her radio show Classic & Co

[5 Diapasons]
“Ludmila Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle command attention with their presence and brilliance. (...) Lively and sharp (...) Berlinskaya and Ancelle impress with their energy and precision.”

"The rapport between the two soloists and the Besançon orchestra allows them to unleash all the energy of a work of quite breathtaking virtuosity – on the pianos as well as in the orchestra!
This spontaneity is equally characteristic of Dana Suesse's equally rare Concerto for Two Pianos, (...) whose rich sound palette and freedom of inspiration immediately charm the ear. This is equally true of Amy Beach's Suite for Two Pianos on Old Irish Melodies, Op. 104, included as a complement, whose powerful breath and varied colors show great intelligence in the treatment of the two instruments together."

“Bizet's Jeux d'enfants, Debussy's Petite Suite and Ravel's Ma Mère l'Oye follow one another with the same freshness of inspiration, the same infectious enthusiasm, the same joy of playing, right up to an improbable Danse hindoue by Chaminade as an encore.”

"as you leave the concert, your mind is still enveloped in the dreamlike experience you've just had."

"The duo displays its qualities: density of sound, total coherence, quality of listening to create these plays of echoes while maintaining an ironclad balance. An unassailable professionalism."

"The second part of the concert is dedicated to the rare Concerto by Max Bruch, a composer best known for his violin concerto. (...) Ludmila Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle restore this work to its former glory, revealing the full richness of the score, particularly in the fugue, imbued with Brahms-like romanticism. These two masters of the piano (...) paint sonorous pictures with playing that is at once majestic and solemn, tender and intimate. Although the work respects a classical four-movement form, it breaks with convention, notably with the emphasis on slow sections in each movement. The Berlinskaya-Ancelle duo make the piano sing in quiet moments, drawing us into a reverie akin to Schumann or Rachmaninov, as in the second movement. They also know how to be imposing, as in the vigorous entrance to the first movement. Their interpretation combines explosive energy and confidential gentleness, in perfect harmony with the Orchestre national de Lille."

"The sober, uncompromising pianism and complicity of Ludmila Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle are marvelous here, as they rigorously - and with visible joy - appropriate a language that is always inventive and personal, and whose extreme complexity is never heavy."