{"id":116425,"date":"2025-07-31T16:40:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T20:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=116425"},"modified":"2025-08-01T08:00:01","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T12:00:01","slug":"interview-duo-concertante-celebrate-nearly-three-decades-performance-new-recording","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/07\/31\/interview-duo-concertante-celebrate-nearly-three-decades-performance-new-recording\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Duo Concertante Celebrate Nearly Three Decades Of Performance With A New Recording"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Duo
Duo Concertante (Nancy Dahn, violin & Timothy Steeves, piano) (Photo courtesy of the artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Duo Concertante (Nancy Dahn, violin & Timothy Steeves, piano) is celebrating nearly three decades of international touring and performing with a new release. Maier Franck Schumann: Violin Sonatas will be released on the Delphian Records label on August 22.<\/p>\n

The repertoire focuses on the Romantic sonata and its expressive possibilities.<\/p>\n

Robert Schumann wrote his Sonata No. 1 in a mere four days in 1851. The work pushes the envelope when it comes to notions of Classical restraint propriety. The emotional intensity of the Sonata would prove inspirational to generations of future composers.<\/p>\n

Amanda Maier\u2019s B minor Sonata was composed in 1874, and won a prize from the Swedish Art Music Society. C\u00e9sar Franck\u2019s much loved A major Sonata rounds out the album.<\/p>\n

Duo Concertante (Nancy Dahn, violin & Timothy Steeves, piano): The Interview<\/h2>\n

They\u2019ve been a personal and professional duo for decades. \u201cI guess 1998,\u201d says Dahn. \u201cThat’s a long time ago.\u201d It\u2019s when they officially became Duo Concertante, performing ensemble.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the very beginning, we thought we’d start out by learning the Beethoven Kreutzer Sonata. Why not start with the most difficult?\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n

Certainly, toughing it out over a difficult piece can be a precursor to a good working relationship. As they began to tour and perform together regularly, they agreed on a dual focus on standard repertoire and new music.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s been a really rich experience focusing on both,\u201d Nancy adds.<\/p>\n

The Duo has commissioned more than 65 original works from Canadian and international composers over their career as an ensemble, including Chan Ka Nin, R. Murray Schafer, Kati Ag\u00f3cs, Andrew Staniland, Kelly-Marie Murphy, Alice Ho, Omar Daniel, Linda Bouchard, and Jean Lesage, among many others.<\/p>\n

The Tuckamore Festival<\/h3>\n

The couple founded the Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival, based in St. John\u2019s Newfoundland, in 2001. The 2025 edition took place from June 23 to July 6. The program included 25 concerts spread across 25 venues in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, we celebrated our 25th festival. That was kind of exciting, 25 years,\u201d Steven says.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve expanded on their usual summer programming to include a few more concerts throughout the season. \u201cWe have a huge educational festival as well,\u201d Steeves says. This year\u2019s cohort included 23 young string players and pianists who worked with seasoned artists. He reports that some of those budding musical partnerships will result in tours and performances later this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, for the 25th year festival, we really went crazy,\u201d Nancy adds. That included an additional 37 concerts across the entire province, incorporating Labrador, and as far as Hopedale. \u201cThese really remote communities,\u201d she says. \u201cNewfoundland is huge. Just getting to the other side is 10 hours in your car. It was a great way to celebrate 25 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of those concerts were necessarily held in smaller venues, but they were routinely full of appreciative audiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe audiences were really hungry to hear classical,\u201d Dahn says.<\/p>\n

\"Swedish
Swedish violinist and composer Amanda R\u00f6ngten Maier in Amsterdam (Photo: M. B\u00fcttinghausen, currently in the Bergen Public Library, Norway, Public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Repertoire<\/h3>\n

The music on the album comes in part from their history of performing together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve played some of these a lot,\u201d Nancy notes. \u201cThe Franck Sonata \u2014 it’s been a pillar of our repertoire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve been playing the Schumann for about 20 or 25 years,\u201d Steeves says.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me personally, I did not appreciate the genius of Schumann until later in life,\u201d Nancy adds. \u201cIt took me a while living with his work to recognize his uniqueness.\u201d<\/p>\n

The versions captured on the album are interpreted with years of experience. Maier\u2019s Sonata is the outlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaier is very fresh,\u201d Timothy says. \u201cTerrific piece. She was a fabulous violinist and an amazing composer.\u201d As he points out, and common for the time, once Amanda married and had children, any professional aspirations were set aside. The Swedish violinist and composer died at the young age of 41 in 1894.<\/p>\n

Her work fits neatly between Schumann and Franck.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt complements the Schumann,\u201d Timothy says.<\/p>\n

Nancy notes that the work of the neglected composer first came to her attention via a thesis that had been written on Maier. One of her violin students at Memorial University learned the Sonata.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to Tim, you know, this is a really, really great piece,\u201d Dahn recalls. \u201cWe play it a lot now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a really great piano piece too,\u201d Steeves adds. \u201cThe two instruments work together really, really well. It\u2019s really exciting to listen to and a lot of fun to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe wrote this piece when she was 23. It’s just astounding,\u201d says Nancy. \u201cThere’s already a really individual voice there, a personality.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s another of the increasing number of works that have been rediscovered and\/or revived after sometimes centuries of neglect when it comes to representation in the traditional canon of classical music.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not really true, the way we think, that the pieces we’ve ended up today are really the greatest pieces, because it hasn’t been an even playing field at all,\u201d Dahn states.<\/p>\n

From a 2023 performance:<\/p>\n