Lucas and Arthur Jussen in an interview

"We are incredibly lucky that we get along so well."

The Jussen brothers received their first piano lessons in their birthplace of Hilversum. Even as children, they performed for Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and their first competition awards followed. In 2005, at the invitation of the renowned Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires, they studied for almost a year in Portugal and Brazil. In the following years, they continued their studies with both Pires and other distinguished Dutch teachers. Lucas completed his training with Menahem Pressler in the USA and with Dmitri Bashkirov in Madrid. Arthur finished his studies with Jan Wijn at the Amsterdam Conservatoire.

Since 2010, Lucas & Arthur Jussen have been signed to Deutsche Grammophon. Their debut recording of works by Beethoven went platinum and received the Edison Klassiek Audience Award. Following a Schubert album and "Jeux," a recording of French piano music, their 2015 release featured Mozart's two concertos, K. 242 and K. 365, accompanied by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Sir Neville Marriner. The album achieved gold status. This was followed by Poulenc's Double Concerto and Saint-Saëns' "Carnival of the Animals," recorded with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Stéphane Denève. A recording of concertos and chorales by Johann Sebastian Bach, made in collaboration with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, was released in 2019. On "The Russian Album" (2021), they perform works for two pianos by Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, and Arensky. In their latest recording, "Dutch Masters" (April 2022), featuring the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under Karina Canellakis, among others, they dedicate themselves to works by Dutch composers. The recording was awarded an Edison Klassiek in the "Chamber Music" category and the Audience Prize in September 2022.

Are there moments when you would prefer to perform solo?

Lucas:
No, not really. We're always happy to play as a duo. I mean, when we play alone, we enjoy it too, especially because of the repertoire. Of course, there are some wonderful pieces for piano, but it's never happened that we're playing together and I think, "He's getting on my nerves. I wish I could play by myself." Thankfully, that hasn't happened yet.

Arthur:
We're lucky that we can do both. We play the duo repertoire, but we can also play the solo repertoire. For example, this week we're both playing a Beethoven piano concerto. That's fantastic, of course, and it's also a huge joy for us that we can do things together besides playing – like traveling and being abroad and all that – because you can sometimes feel very lonely when you're at the airport for the hundredth time or have to wait to check into a hotel or something. It's all so much nicer when you can do it together. I think we're very happy together.

What annoys you most about your brother?

Lucas:
That's a difficult question. I have to say that there's really nothing about Arthur that really bothers me. I mean, we have our moments when we maybe have a little bit of a falling out with each other—Arthur with me just as much as I with Arthur—but it's not a specific aspect of Arthur that always gets on my nerves. So, no, I don't really have a good answer to that.

Arthur:
I basically have the same answer. I think we're incredibly lucky that we get along so well. And there's really no choice. You have to be a bit lucky, because a lot of siblings just don't get along. We sometimes have a little bit of an argument, but it's so rare and it's about such silly things that it's not really important enough to mention.

What do you admire most about your brother?

Lucas:
I think Arthur can work incredibly hard when he has to. When there's really work to be done, it doesn't really matter if he's tired, if the circumstances are good or not, or if he's slept a lot or a little. He can just work incredibly hard. And I think that's something you really need in our profession. That's something about Arthur that I admire a lot.

Arthur:
I think what I admire most about Lucas is that he's very good at putting things into perspective. How do you say that in German? To see things in perspective. We sometimes have important concerts, or there's a lot of pressure before or during a concert. And we started playing piano because we love it so much. We love making music, and it's important not to lose that feeling when you're under pressure. Even when you're sitting on a big stage and you have to play, and play well, it's still about the music. And Lucas is very good at sometimes taking the pressure off and saying, "Hey, you're super prepared. Just play. Make music," or something like that. And I can sometimes lose that. So I'm very glad that Lucas can help me a lot with just one short sentence.

From which living composer would you most like to hear a composition for piano duo?

Lucas:
There are several composers we greatly admire, and these composers have all actually written for us, for example, Jörg Widmann. He's truly a genius. He writes such brilliant music. And last year he wrote a new piece for us, "Bunte Blätter" (Colored Leaves), for two pianos. That was a huge dream of ours, that it even happened. And when I really think about it now, "Is there another composer I'd really like to work with?", I find it difficult. Joey Roukens, a Dutch composer whose new piano concerto we recorded, has also written music for us. These are both composers we love very much, who are very close to us. And I think we're incredibly lucky that they wrote a piece for us. So there are always wishes, but for now I'm actually very content.

Arthur:
Of course, there are many wonderful composers, and we're always on the lookout for interesting ones. It's difficult for us to say, "He or she, man or woman—we want him/her to compose a piece for us," because there are so many good composers that we don't want to single out just one name. We're always searching for new pieces, and we're always very honored when composers want to write for us.

What is the approximate time allocation? How much time do you practice together and how much each of you alone?

Arthur:
Actually, it's 90% vs. 10%. For the most part, we practice on our own. We believe that you first have to be able to play your own part really well, and then you come together, because we think there's no point in getting together and rehearsing if you don't know your own part well enough. When we work or rehearse together, we don't talk much. We just play. And the most important thing is that you also feel what the other person wants or what the other person is doing. And we don't use many words for that. It's more playing than talking for us.

Would you ever like to play a piano duet with a different partner?

Lucas:
Well, not really at the moment. And that's because I've had bad experiences with it personally. I studied abroad for four years, and I had to play a duet with someone else there, and I realized how naturally everything flows with Arthur and how difficult it actually is to do it with someone else. It feels so unnatural and so unfamiliar to do it with someone else. I think I hardly even talk to Arthur when we play. We just play. We have a very good sense of what the other person wants to do, what the other person is feeling. And when I played the duet with someone else abroad, I had to discuss every phrasing, and I found that very exhausting. No, I'm very happy with Arthur.

Arthur:
Yes, and I'm very happy with Lucas too. Playing with a beautiful woman is great too, of course :-), but no, we're very happy together.

They are also very interested in sports. Do you exercise regularly yourself?

Lucas:
Yes, we do. We love sports. I think besides music, sports are one of the things in life we ​​love most. And we do it a lot, except when we're on tour, then it's difficult to play tennis or football, then it's often fitness or jogging or something like that. We've actually played football our whole lives and we also go skiing. I know it's a bit dangerous for your hands, but we've been doing it since we were little kids.

Do you have any other hobbies?

Lucas:
Yes, we do. We really love it when we have time and are home to go out to eat with our family and friends. Because we're away so much and travel a lot, we're always very happy when we're home in Amsterdam. Amsterdam is a beautiful city with so many great pubs and restaurants. And I don't even know if you can really call it a hobby. I mean, sports are also a hobby of ours, but going out to eat is something we really love.

Arthur:
Family and friends are very important to us. We have a small group of people who are very close to us, and we love spending time with them.


Interview by Florian Schär | Classicpoint.net | January 1, 2023.
Image copyright: Marco Borggreve

Next concerts

09/20/2026 - Nello specchio di Rossini – In the mirror of Rossini