SMU welcomed renowned pianists Enrico Elisi and Mengyang Pan for a duo performance at Caruth Auditorium on Wednesday, Sept.10, marking the piano department’s first guest artist recital of the year.
Elisi and Pan collaborated for years, formed the Elisi Pan duo in 2023 and have since performed internationally in prestigious concert halls. The duo have devotedly shared their artistry and pedagogy with the world.
Dr. Catharine Lysinger, professor of Applied Practice and Pedagogy at SMU, highlighted the exceptional quality of both artists invited to perform at Meadows.
“This is as professional as it gets… premier artists in their art form,” said Dr. Lysinger.
Lysinger went on to mention that not only are the duo world-renowned performers, but international professors of pedagogy and all-around musicians as well. The audience gathered to hear three classical favorites in four-hand and duet piano literature.
The recital opened with two duets for one piano, a few of Johannes Brahms’ “Hungarian Dances” and the “Dolly Suite” by Gabriel Fauré. These pieces comprised the romantic segment of the recital, followed by a transition to an early modern duet, which left the audience with a sense of intrigue and vigor.
After a quick pause to bring out another piano, allowing Elisi and Pan to use the full register of both instruments, the recital concluded with “Concerto for Two Pianos” by Francis Poulenc. While the previous pieces were familiar classics, the Poulenc’s Concerto was slightly more obscure, bore a change of character and provided a stirring contrast to the preceding tone of the performance.
Gabriel Bustos, a piano performance graduate student, described how he was drawn by the continuous energy from the performers and struck by how the different parts work cohesively.
“They brought a lot of energy,” Bustos said. “Definitely one of the best two-piano recitals I have seen at Meadows.”
As Bustos also mentioned, a new Hamburg Steinway was brought into the piano department this semester. It was featured during the Two Piano Concerto and, through Elisi and Pan’s compelling musicality and interpretation, perfectly highlighted the brilliance of the instrument.
This public recital also opened its doors to the Dallas community as well as students’ friends and family. Several audience members from the Dallas area expressed their enjoyment of the live music and their admiration for the talent and dedication of both performers.
One member of the audience said the talents of Elisi and Pan were “almost like a butterfly.”
Their illustration of a butterfly depicted the effortless playing of Pan, an illustrious pianist and professor at the Royal College of Music.
The strong impression left by both Elisi and Pan’s artistry was more than evident in the exuberant applause and animated chatter in the audience.
As a local visitor to SMU candidly remarked, “All those piano students that attended…this is something to strive for.”
