In Chicago, the "first couple" of piano duet playing is Claire Aebersold and Ralph Nieweem, founders of the Chicago Duo Piano Festival and a professional team for over four decades.
Two years ago at the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck, they presented the fiendishly difficult piano four-hands version of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. This year the centerpiece of their program is another toweringly challenging piece: Debussy's La Mer. The rest of the program touches on German and French Romantic literature by Brahms, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Chabrier, and Faure.
The Aebersold-Neiweem Piano Duo performs at 7:30 pm on Thursday and Friday at the Woman's Club of Saugatuck.