Thread: The Five Browns

I saw this group (five siblings: two guys and three rather attractive girls, all in their twenties) at the main Philadelphia concert hall, the Kimmel Center. They were, for the most part, really great. They played a combination of five-piano arrangements of orchestral works, solo piano pieces, duets, and trios. The guys, I thought, were better than the girls; either that, or they just picked more interesting music. Some highlights:

Greg Brown's performance of the Prokofiev Toccata- absolutely stunning. He kept that opening, driving rhythm throughout the entire piece, and his runs were magical.

The finale, which was a five-piano transcription of the Stravinsky Firebird Suite. Wonderful, wonderful transcription with some very edgy playing by all five Browns.

And one major disappointment:

The three female Browns' rendtition of Debussy's Clair de Lune for six hands, which managed the unlikely feat of turning a spare, mellifluous, subtle Impressionist piece into a saccharine, overly-romantic, Thomas Kincaid Painting.

In general, great talent and performances from these five musicians (NB: all of them, surprisingly, attended Julliard at the same time).