‘Not the slightest nonsense, but breathtaking finesse and delicacy.’
The two Bizjak sisters now appear as a piano duo after proving their mettle individually as soloists. Born in Belgrade, where they were initially trained by Zlata Males, they both entered the class of Jacques Rouvier at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris (CNSMDP), some years apart.
The year 2002 marked their debut as a duo, performing Mendelssohn’s Concerto for two pianos with the Belgrade Philharmonic. But it was above all with a concert at the Laon Festival in 2004 that the sisters attracted attention. Together they won the Avant-Scène Competition at the CNSMDP in 2005 and were invited to play in Paris – Mozart’s Concerto for two pianos at the Cité de la Musique and the Poulenc Concerto at Radio France.
Their subsequent career has been worthy of their talent, with engagements at the Théâtre Mogador, the Musée d’Orsay and the Salle Gaveau in Paris and such festivals as La Roque d’Anthéron, La Folle Journée in Nantes, Nohant, Sully, Auvers-sur-Oise, Lisztomania in Châteauroux, and BEMUS in Belgrade. In 2005 they were awarded two special prizes at the prestigious ARD Competition for piano duos in Munich.
It was in the 2008-09 season that they arrived on the international scene, with the immense success of their first invitation to the BBC Proms in London (with the Britten Sinfonia under the direction of Ludovic Morlot) and their debut in Japan, at La Folle Journée in Kanazawa and Tokyo. They have recently appeared at the Festival de l’Orangerie de Sceaux, the Perros Guirec Chamber Music Festival, Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse, the Festival Berlioz, and the Grand Théâtre de Provence with the Orchestre National de France (broadcast live on France Musique).
Lidija and Sanja have performed with such leading orchestras as Sinfonia Varsovia, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and the Orchestre de Picardie. They recorded a CD of music by Mozart, Schumann and Brahms for the Fondation Meyer-CNSMDP and were selected for the programme ‘Déclic’ Cultures France-Radio France, supported by Mécénat Musical Societé Générale, which led to the recording of a live CD. Their performance at the thirtieth anniversary of the Festival International de Piano de La Roque d’Anthéron was webcast on Arte Live Web.
They are regularly invited to appear on French and foreign radio and television, and each of their concerts is warmly acclaimed by the press and draws enthusiastic reactions from audiences. They will shortly be seen in Venice, in Florence with the support of the Palazzetto Bru Zane Foundation, in Düsseldorf, on Radio France, at the Salle Gaveau and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, and at La Folle Journée in Nantes.
‘Here is a duo one urgently wants to hear again!’ Jean-Luc Pierre, La Lettre du Musicien
