From October 4 to 7, piano duo Mati Mikalai and Kai Ratassepp will give three concerts in Tallinn, Tartu and Viljandi, organized by the State Concert Agency Eesti Kontsert.
On October 4 at 6 pm, the duo will perform music by Ferenc Liszt, Carl Reinecke, Claude Debussy and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy at St. John’s Church, Viljandi.
In Tallinn, their concert will take place on October 6 at Estonia Concert Hall and October 7, they will perform in Tartu University Hall. The program consists of pieces by Camille Saint-Saëns, Mozart-Busoni, Ferenc Liszt and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. Both concerts start at 7 pm.
Pianists Kai Ratassepp and Mati Mikalai have been constantly playing together since 1998. The duo has gained second prizes at the International Piano Duo Competition in Kaunas and at the Silvio Omizzolo Piano Duo Competition in Padua (both in 2000). The duo of Kai Ratassepp and Mati Mikalai was given the first prize in the 49th ARD Music Competition in Munich (2000), one of the most recognized of its kind.
In addition to Estonian concert halls, Kai Ratassepp and Mati Mikalai have performed as a duo in Germany, France, Italy and Russia. Besides concert tours, the duo has participated in international festivals. They have co-operated with orchestras such as Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Orchester des Nationaltheaters Mannheim, Mariinsky Young Philharmonic (youth orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg).
Repertoire of the duo varies from 18th century to 20th century and also to contemporary authors. New works by Estonian composers, for example music by Ülo Krigul and Jüri Reinvere, hold a special place in their repertoire.
In 2000, the duo gained the Annual Prize of the Endowment for Music of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Laura Vaikma