Four Hands. Two Hearts. One Hope

Reference Recordings proudly presents the debut release of Ukrainian piano duo Anastasiia Larchikova and Mykhailo Diordiiev in Four Hands. Two Hearts. One Hope: Ukrainian and American Music for Piano Duo. Producer Sergei Kvitko says, “this is a labor­-of-­love album with a young and very talented Ukrainian piano duo presenting a contemporary, but VERY accessible program of Ukrainian and American music — Americans are John Corigliano‘s Gazebo Dances, Ricky Ian Gordon‘s Ring-­A­-Ding­-Ding, and a world premiere recording of Lowell Liebermann‘s Romance, Etude and Chorale, Op. 134, which is the centerpiece of the album — a stunning and deeply moving work that was commissioned by Steinway as a wedding present to Lang Lang. The Ukrainian music is also splendid. This album features folk­-inspired Carpathian Song by Zoltan Amashi, composer, cellist and winner of the 2003 Lev Revutsky Prize; Three Extravagant Dances by the late Myroslav Skoryk, who was awarded the titles “The People’s Artist” and “Hero of Ukraine”, and whose Melody became an unofficial anthem of resistance in Ukraine and was used as a soundtrack for the video depicting the devastation of Russian invasion that President Zelenskyy showed to the US Congress in 2022; and lastly Ru­-um­bambar by Bohdan Sehin, who studied with M. Skoryk and whose music is highly textured, with Eastern European expressiveness.”

Proceeds from this album will be donated to Ukraine humanitarian aid organizations. We are excited to help support Ukrainian musicians in this way. Many people have donated their time and services to make this album possible.

Anastasiia Larchikova is a pianist from Ukraine. In 2021, she completed her Bachelor’s degree, and, in 2023, she obtained her Master’s degree from the National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv. She is currently a student at the Kunstuniversität Graz in Austria, studying with Professor Peter Jozsa. She received a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture of Austria (2024) to study there. She has participated in many international festivals, and is a prizewinner at many international and all­-Ukrainian competitions, recently including: 2nd prize at the All­Ukrainian Competition “Interpretation of Contemporary Music” in the “Chamber Ensemble” category (Ukraine, 2021); 2nd prize at the International Music Competition organized by the Association Les Musicales du Centre (France, 2022); and Semi­finalist at the Alicante International Piano Competition (Spain, 2024).

Mykhailo Diordiiev is also a Ukrainian pianist. He is a student at the National Music Academy in Kyiv (Prof. Natalia Gridneva), but is currently studying at Kunstuniversität Graz in Austria, with Professor Peter Jozsa. He has twice received a scholarship from the President of Ukraine (2020­21, 2021­22). He also received a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture of Austria (2023). Mr. Diordiiev has played concerts in Ukraine, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Belgium and Estonia. He is a winner of many international piano competitions, such as: Grand Prix at the International Virtual Competition organized by ConcertFestival.org (USA); 3rd prize at the International Music Competition organized by Association Les Musicales du Centre (France); and 2nd prize at the Samson François International Piano Competition (France).