Piano virtuosos Misha and Cipa Dichter treat viewers to performances of two lively Hungarian Dances for Four Hands by Johannes Brahms and Misha solos on a Chopin Mazurka. The husband and wife team discuss their successful partnership, both at home and on the concert stage. CLICK HERE FOR THE INTERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE! Pianists Misha and Cipa Dichter met at The Juilliard School as students of the legendary Rosina Lhevinne and made their first joint appearance at the Hollywood Bowl in 1972, four years after their marriage. Since then, the Dichters have performed in recital and with major orchestras throughout the world, performing many obscure and neglected two-hand and four-hand piano works. Recent career highlights include the couple's world premiere performance of Robert Starer's Concerto for Two Pianos with the Seattle Symphony, led by Music Director Gerard Schwarz. Last season, the two performed a new addition to their repertoire--Martinù’s Concerto for Two Pianos, H. 292--in Spain with the Barcelona Symphony; they reprised the work in August at the Aspen Music Festival with the Aspen Chamber Symphony, conducted by Osmo Vänskä. The Dichters play annually at the Aspen Music Festival, and can also be seen at other summer festivals like Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, the Hollywood Bowl, Caramoor, the Mann Center, and Florida’s Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival. In May, 2007, Misha will be taking part in a memorial concert with the Saint Louis Symphony. In July, he will return to the Ravinia Festival for his 39th season. He will perform the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Chicago Symphony and James Conlon. In August, he will return to Aspen to perform Bernstein's Age of Anxiety, conducted by James DePriest. The duo recently made a brand new recording called Mozart: The Complete Piano Works for Four Hands, available through membership through The Musical Heritage Society. Their first recording together was an album of works by Schubert and Dvorak called Great Piano Works. The album is available exclusively through PianoDisc. Born in 1945 in Shanghai, where his Polish parents had fled at the outbreak of World War II, Mr. Dichter came to Los Angeles with his family at the age of two and began his piano studies a few years later. While still a student at Juilliard, he launched his international career with a silver medal at the 1966 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Cipa Dichter was born in Brazil of Polish-Russian parents and had her first piano lessons at the age of six. She made her professional debut at 16 with the Symphony Orchestra of Brazil and came to the United States to study at The Juilliard School shortly thereafter. The Dichters live in New York City.
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