‘They made two pianos sound like the Wiener Philharmoniker’
Panamá América- Epasa
‘A prodigy: audible beauty and virtuosity in their exceptional innovation of piano skill.’
El País
‘We were ready for them. And they came with the expected success that goes with them [...] the wait to witness a full concert with them was worth it.’
Málagahoy
‘Smashing, but not breaking, these wonderful artists respect style and technique but state clearly their own voice, young and bold, full of life and humour, expressive and highly musical.’
La Provincia. Diario de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
‘Splendid and masterful virtuosity, unprecedented risk, exceptional style become one in these two musicians […] One hears works of Mozart very few times in such a convincing way.’
Stuttgarter Zeitung
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Since the constitution of this piano duo at the Escuela Reina Sofía in Madrid under Professors Dimitri Bashkirov and Claudio Martínez Mehner, Víctor and Luis del Valle (Vélez-Málaga, Spain) have soon been acclaimed as one of Europe"s most distinguished young chamber music ensembles.
They made their debut in November 2004, in the Auditorio Nacional (Madrid). They have been Top Prize and Special Audience Prize recipients in the 54th ARD International Music Competition (Munich, 2005), and they have been awarded the Silver Medal in the "Primer Palau programme" (Palau de la Música de Cataluña. Barcelona, 2005). They have been Winners in the "Musiques d"Ensemble 2008" Competition (Paris), "Special Audience Prize" in the XI Dranoff International Two Piano Competition (Miami) and Winners and Special Prize to the best Mozart performance in the IV International Piano Duo Competition of Bialystok (Poland, 2008). In April 2011, they have been awarded the Audience Prize in the XXI Central European Music Festival (Zilina, Slovakia).
Their recent activities include performances in the Auditorio Nacional, the Monumental Theater (Madrid), the Maestranza Theater (Sevilla), Palau de la Música, Auditori and the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona), Palacio de Festivales (Santander), Cervantes Theater (Málaga), Auditorium Dom Musiki (Moscow), Herkulessaal, Prinzregententheater and Gasteig (Munich), Liederhalle (Stuttgart), Congress Centrum (Hannover), Theatre des bouffes du Nord (Paris), Teatro Nacional (Panamá), Teatro Metropolitano in Medellín (Colombia), Sibelius Academy Concert Hall, Finlandia Hall and Finnish National Opera (Helsinki), Estonia Konsertdisaal (Tallinn)...
Amongst their performances, they have played with the RTVE Orchestra, the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, l"Orquestra Nacional de Cambra d"Andorra, Jove Orquestra Nacional de Catalunya (JONC), "Siemens Chamber rchestra" of the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía, the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, Bialystok Philharmonic, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, M�nchener Kammerorchester, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Helsinki Philharmonic, conducted by Bogdan Oledski, Howard Griffiths, James Ross, Miquel Ortega, Ralf Gothoni, Manuel Valdivieso, Peter Csaba, Juanjo Mena, Yakov Kreizberg, André de Ridder, Guillermo García Calvo, Okko Kamu...
In 2010, brothers Víctor and Luis del Valle have made a recording of music by Tomás Marco in collaboration with the Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra, and also have recorded works by the Galician composer José Arriola with the orchestra Real Filharmonía de Galicia. Furthermore, they have made recordings for RNE (National Radio from Spain) "Radio Clásica", BR (Bavarian Radio) and SWR (Sud West Radio) and for the SONY recording company in Spain. They have also performed as guest artists in the closing ceremony of the 15th Santander International Piano Competition "Paloma O"Shea", in August 2005, broadcast by TVE (Televisión Española).
They have given concerts in the International Piano Festival "Vladimir Spivakov" (Moscow), "Sommets Musicaux" in Gstaad (Switzerland), Festival Jeunes Talents (Paris), Festival Internacional de Cadaqués (Girona), Perelada International Festival (Catalonia), Santorini International Festival (Greece), Festival Internazionale "Dino Ciani" (Italy), Rheingau Musik Festival, Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele (Germany), Silly "Printemps Musical" in Belgium, Espoo International Piano Festival (Finland).
The duo has been described by musical critics as "a prodigy", "audible beauty, virtuosity...in their exceptional innovation of piano skill" (El País, Spanish newspaper). "Brothers Luis and Víctor del Valle, with Ravel"s "Valse", "broke" the sound barrier, achieving magical tones." (Alerta, Spanish newspaper); "...splendid and masterful virtuosity, unprecedented risk, exceptional style become one in these two musicians... One hears works of Mozart very few times in such a convincing way" (Stuttgarter Zeitung); "...they made two pianos sound like the Wiener Philharmoniker" (Panamá América- Epasa); "... these magnificent pianists respect styles and techniques, and they also show clearly and strongly their own young voice, daring, full of life and humour, expressive and musical to the utmost." (La Provincia. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria newspaper).
They have taken counsel from Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Blanca Uribe, Katia & Marielle Labèque, Ferenc Rados, Menahem Pressler, Zoltán Kocsis, Daniel Barenboim and Martha Argerich.
From 2008, Victor and Luis del Valle combine their artistic activities with their teaching career in Madrid and they are both frequently invited to give piano and chamber music master classes in Spain as well as abroad.
The "Instituto Andaluz de la Juventud" (Andalusian Board for Youth) from the "Junta de Andalucía" (Andalusian Government) has awarded them with the Distinction "Premio Málaga Joven" for promoting Málaga abroad.