Herunder linkes til de begejstrede anmeldelser, der foreløbig er modtaget efter Duoens succesfulde New York-debut den 10. november 2022, men vi kan nu ikke lade være med at bringe et par fyldige citater:
Van der Pals and Eide performed the two opening short pieces by Reinhold Glière and Alexander Glazunov with a welcoming tone and lightness of emotion that was perfectly reminiscent of the fin de siècle period. Van der Pals’s style is one of joyful strength and charming, casual comfort, and the response of the New York audience was ecstatic. The partnership with pianist Eide established a blend of unwavering mutual support without sacrificing independence and married their sound into a musical conversation that was appealing to hear.
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The recital successfully transported listeners from the present moment to the past and onward to the unknown, surprising us at every turn. Van der Pals and Eide received a standing ovation and, with an energy that showed no end in sight, performed their encores (a Glazunov Spanish Serenade and van der Pals’s Nach der Jagt) to a grateful and ebullient audience.
The musicians showed themselves to be first-rate players, in seemingly effortless synchronization. There is no way to know what truly goes through the minds of players simply by watching them, but Tobias seemed to be a cellist completely at ease, despite the importance of this performance to both his career and to and his ancestor’s legacy. Tobias’s confidence may have derived in no small part from having as playing partner Pål, himself an active contributor to the effort of bringing otherwise lost sounds to the ear—on his most recent recording he played Edvard Grieg’s own 1892 Steinway. Even with the piano’s lid fully open, the sweet sound Tobias coaxed from the cello (an instrument built in Barcelona in 1740 by Joannes Guillami) was powerful enough to hold its own next to the modern Steinway, beautifully played by Pål.