Phoenix Story

01/01/2009
Michael Southern
Pittwater Life (Australia)

The Ng Brothers are Australian born twins, now 24 years old and already established on the concert circuit in London with bookings in the Purcell Room (Pei-Jee) and the Wigmore Hall (Pei-Sian ).

David Tong was born in Macau and moved to Australia as a child, so we basically have three home grown products of exceptional skill brought together by Melba for their first CD.

The playing techniques of the twins is beautiful and expressive and the recording in the Iwaki Auditorium of the Melbourne South Bank complex is spacious and well balanced between the at times virtuosic piano accompaniment and the need to let the cellos sing in the Chopin and the Rachmaninov. Their technique is so close that it would be hard to separate them if one was not told which twin was playing.

The Australian work by Kats-Chernin, Phoenix Story, is a fine vehicle for the brothers in duet with an admirable performance … it is a wonderful recording.