Duo Primevère
Named after the first song cycle by French composer and violinist Claire Delbos, Duo Primevère was founded in 2019 by soprano Sofia Livotov and pianist Natalia Pegarkova-Barenboim. Based in Geneva and Berlin, the duo shares a passion for bringing lesser-known repertoire to the concert stage, focusing on Romantic art song and works by women composers.
The two musicians first met in 2018 at a chamber concert in Wismar Town Hall. Further performances followed in Germany, and during the Beethoven anniversary year, the duo was invited by the Beethoven Bei Uns concert series to present a programme of songs and piano works by the composer.
For International Women’s Day 2020 in Berlin, they created the programme The Air I Breathe, featuring music by women composers from around the world. In June 2022, the programme was performed again in Salzburg at the Maria-Anna-Mozart Society.
In March 2025, the duo presented their current programme, The Genius of Lovers, in Berlin. It explored the musical relationships between Clara and Robert Schumann, Alma and Gustav Mahler, and Olivier Messiaen and Claire Delbos, and featured the German premiere of Delbos’s song cycle Primevère.
For programme and concert enquiries please get in touch with the musicians direclty via email: duoprimevere@gmail.com
Named after the first song cycle by French composer and violinist Claire Delbos, Duo Primevère was founded in 2019 by soprano Sofia Livotov and pianist Natalia Pegarkova-Barenboim. Based in Geneva and Berlin, the duo shares a passion for bringing lesser-known repertoire to the concert stage, focusing on Romantic art song and works by women composers.
The two musicians first met in 2018 at a chamber concert in Wismar Town Hall. Further performances followed in Germany, and during the Beethoven anniversary year, the duo was invited by the Beethoven Bei Uns concert series to present a programme of songs and piano works by the composer.
For International Women’s Day 2020 in Berlin, they created the programme The Air I Breathe, featuring music by women composers from around the world. In June 2022, the programme was performed again in Salzburg at the Maria-Anna-Mozart Society.
In March 2025, the duo presented their current programme, The Genius of Lovers, in Berlin. It explored the musical relationships between Clara and Robert Schumann, Alma and Gustav Mahler, and Olivier Messiaen and Claire Delbos, and featured the German premiere of Delbos’s song cycle Primevère.
For programme and concert enquiries please get in touch with the musicians direclty via email: duoprimevere@gmail.com
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The Genius of Lovers
Intimate artistic relationships between two people have always fascinated the outside world. How did these artists influence one another? Was their relationship an inspiration or an obstacle to their creative work?
In their concert programme "The Genius of Lovers", Duo Primevère takes a closer look at three musical couples of the 19th and 20th centuries: Gustav and Alma Mahler, Robert and Clara Schumann, and Claire Delbos and Olivier Messiaen. Alongside a selection of well-known works, the programme features a number of rarities from the song and piano repertoire, including Claire Delbos’s song cycle Primevère and Gustav Mahler’s Rheinlegendchen in an arrangement for solo piano. Listeners are invited to discover these composer couples from a fresh perspective and to immerse themselves in their world, not only through music but also through engaging spoken introductions. Whether the couples stood as equals or in each other’s shadow is left for the audience to decide...
Programme duration:
60 minutes without interval (shorter version)
90 minutes with interval (extended version)
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The Air I Breathe
The Air I Breathe is a programme dedicated entirely to music by women composers from the 19th century to the present day. Bringing together art song and solo piano works, it presents music by composers including Clara Schumann, Fanny Hensel, Claire Delbos, Lili Boulanger, Alma Mahler, Rebecca Clarke, Teresa Carreño, Trisutji Kamal and Errollyn Wallen.
Moving across different countries, generations and musical traditions, the programme highlights both familiar names and composers whose music is still too rarely heard in concert. At its centre is Claire Delbos’s five-song cycle Primevère, the work from which Duo Primevère takes its name. The programme was first presented in Berlin for International Women’s Day 2020 and was performed again in June 2022 in Salzburg at the Maria-Anna-Mozart Society.
Programme duration:
60 minutes without interval (shorter version)
90 minutes with interval (extended version)
The Genius of Lovers
Intimate artistic relationships between two people have always fascinated the outside world. How did these artists influence one another? Was their relationship an inspiration or an obstacle to their creative work?
In their concert programme "The Genius of Lovers", Duo Primevère takes a closer look at three musical couples of the 19th and 20th centuries: Gustav and Alma Mahler, Robert and Clara Schumann, and Claire Delbos and Olivier Messiaen. Alongside a selection of well-known works, the programme features a number of rarities from the song and piano repertoire, including Claire Delbos’s song cycle Primevère and Gustav Mahler’s Rheinlegendchen in an arrangement for solo piano. Listeners are invited to discover these composer couples from a fresh perspective and to immerse themselves in their world, not only through music but also through engaging spoken introductions. Whether the couples stood as equals or in each other’s shadow is left for the audience to decide...
Programme duration:
60 minutes without interval (shorter version)
90 minutes with interval (extended version)
The Air I Breathe
The Air I Breathe is a programme dedicated entirely to music by women composers from the 19th century to the present day. Bringing together art song and solo piano works, it presents music by composers including Clara Schumann, Fanny Hensel, Claire Delbos, Lili Boulanger, Alma Mahler, Rebecca Clarke, Teresa Carreño, Trisutji Kamal and Errollyn Wallen.
Moving across different countries, generations and musical traditions, the programme highlights both familiar names and composers whose music is still too rarely heard in concert. At its centre is Claire Delbos’s five-song cycle Primevère, the work from which Duo Primevère takes its name. The programme was first presented in Berlin for International Women’s Day 2020 and was performed again in June 2022 in Salzburg at the Maria-Anna-Mozart Society.
Programme duration:
60 minutes without interval (shorter version)
90 minutes with interval (extended version)
Contact
Follow Duo Primevère on Instagram, Facebook & YouTube for concert updates, performances and news.
For programme and concert enquiries, or to get in touch with the musicians directly, please use the email address below:
duoprimevere@gmail.com