Family Classics Series

REVIEW: In the small concert hall, that most intimate of settings, fascinating work is being done by artists like Timothy and Nancy LeRoi Nickel...in their shared philosophy of the real need for music in the lives of children as well as adults, and the recognition of  the interrelationships that make all the arts a family, they truly show that they are tuned to a higher key.

Piano Duet and Mime:  "Children's Games" by Bizet, "Mother Goose Suite" by Ravel featuring Northwest mime Albert Alter PHOTO

Piano Duet and Art: featuring Northwest visual artist Judith Wyss in "Hans Christian Andersen stories" by Florent Schmitt, Carnival of the Animals" by Saint Saens and Erik Satie's ballet music "Parade" with percussion and slides of Picasso sets and costumes PHOTO

Piano Duet and Dance:  "Music for Big and Little Children" by Schumann, Slavonic Dances of Dvorak, Hungarian Dances of Brahms featuring Northwest choreographer Meg Potter PHOTO from performance at Marylhurst University with students of Oregon Ballet Theatre '97 

Family Classics CD

includes the 1924 film Entr'acte by Rene Clair with music of Erik Satie  and his  ballet music "Parade" with percussion and slides of Picasso sets.

REVIEW...The playing of the duettists in Satie's "Enr'acte" was deftly pointed...Congratulations to these lively pianists for introducing this lively essay." Musical Opinion (London)

original piano duet version

REVIEWS "...a performance of dazzling impact, ...the score (of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring) is astonishingly lucid when brilliantly played on the piano: details which even the finest performance can conceal are laid bare with wonderful effect. " Musical Opinion (London) 7/90

 "...The Nickels' precise control of sonority in the original four-hand version of "The Rite of Spring" conveyed the impressionist similarities between Stravinsky and Debussy, and if the savage propulsion of the orchestral version was absent, this arrangement communicated the work's more hidden poetry."  Music and Musicians International

including the Grand Duo and the F minor Fantasy

REVIEW"...in the (Grand) Duo the Nickels' attention to details-always noticeable in their playing-created a rich palette of color marked by strong dynamic contrasts and consistent phrasing...The delicate designs of the A Major Rondo were intimately and expertly spun. - The Oregonian

(duets of Moscheles, Alkan, Goetz, Anton Rubinstein)

Romantic Connections CD

(by Grieg, Busoni, Brahms, Dvorak, and Moskowski)

(Benda, Fibich, Dvorak, Svoboda)

(played on replica of 1784 Stein fortepiano)

REVIEW:  "...virtuosic playing...a virtual swirling dance without ever getting entangled" (Die Welt, Berlin 8/96)

REVIEW. "Nothing about their collaboration results in restrained or sanctimonious music-making. The repertoire is red-blooded, and the Nickels deliver it with mastery, energy, and wit." (from review of CD "For 2 to Play") -Fanfare magazine

For Two to Play CD

 Kozeluh,  Concerto in Bb Major for piano duet and orchestra

REVIEW: Fortepianists Nancy LeRoi Nickel and Timothy Nickel played Kozeluh's Concerto in B Flat Major for Piano Four Hands sitting at their narrow instrument elbowing each other like siblings at a dinner table. They played beautifully, and the music had the subtletly of batting eyelashes.  

Robert Starer, Concerto for Piano 4 hands and orchestra

Mozart, Concerto for Two Pianos and orchestra in Eb

COLLABORATIONS ~

Musical Valentines for Piano Duet and Vocal Quartet

Brahms' Liebeslieder (Lovesong) Waltzes & Neueliebeslieder Waltzes and Schumann's (New Lovesong)
Spanisches Liederbuch

Brahms' Requiem

for chorus and  piano duet (setting by composer)

for soprano, baritone, and piano duet

REVIEW: "Portland had an unusual number of premieres this season.  A few of the better ones were Leonard Bernstain's "Arias and Barcarolles" (original version), chamber music by LeRoy Jenkins, and a whole bunch of premieres performed on one program by Peter Serkin....The Bernstein "Arias" featured two pianists, Nancy and Tim Nickel and two singers, Alyce Rogers and Kevin Walsh. The music was witty and well-crafted, and the performance was immensely enjoyable."