Cirque du piano – 1 piano, 3 pianists, 6 hands and 30 fingers
e-programme
Synopsis
Playfully straddling the categories of circus and a ‘serious’ classical music concert, our innovative piano troupe perform finger gymnastics and arabesques of the hand as they take us on a world tour of the rarely heard music written for three pianists playing one piano together. Their musical programme tours piano pieces inspired by Russia, Turkey, Switzerland and the USA starts before returning to ‘bonnie wee’ Scotland for the grand finale. Both comical and deeply moving, this keyboard orchestra ‘cirque du piano’ is an entertaining spectacle pushing the limits of what a piano can do!
In 2025, Fringe Classics collaborated with acclaimed Scottish filmmaker Jack Hinks at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025.
Programme
Stars and Stripes Forever – John Philip Sousa
Overture from the Barber of Seville – Gioachino Rossini
Romance – Sergei Rachmaninoff
Rondo alla Turka (‘Turkish March’) – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Marche funèbre d’une Marionette – Charles-François Gonoud
Carillon de St Pierre - Georges Malézieux
Toccata and Fugue in D minor – Johann Sebastian Bach
Fantasy after Scottish Folk Songs – Carl Czerny
Click HERE to learn more about tonight’s artists
EdFringe25 x Jack Hinks
“This lively evening of crowd-pleasing tunes and showmanship was performed by three Royal Conservatoire of Scotland alumni. We were assured the high standard we therefore expected would not be compromised by cramming three people onto one piano stool! It wasn’t all ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’ and ‘Funeral March of a Marionette’ (rousingly enjoyable as those instantly recognisable pieces were). Bach, Mozart and Rachmaninoff were also included and the performers had also found repertoire composed specifically for three pianists. A poignant highlight was the pretty toy grand piano that delicately played a carillon part. The stories were interesting too; if ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’ is played at a circus, flee for your lives; it’s a coded alarm!”