The ACT label is known for discovering and promoting many great jazz pianists. Iiro Rantala and David Helbock are two of the most exciting.

"Intelligence, humor, a lot of sentiment, unpredictable ideas and the finest piano craftsmanship" (FAZ) - Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala is "a natural phenomenon on the keys" (Jazz thing).

Rantala, who is a generation older, invited David Helbock to his own piano festival in Helsinki in 2014, even before he joined ACT, and since then the paths of the two exceptional pianists have crossed again and again - for example at a sold-out concert in the Berlin Philharmonie - together with Michael Wollny on three pianos.

Rantala manages a balancing act in many respects: critically acclaimed, awarded the German Record Critics' Award, the ECHO Jazz Award, the Finnish EMMA Award and many more, but at the same time an audience favorite at hundreds of concerts. In classical temples such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie, Konzerthaus Berlin, Philharmonie Cologne, but also in jazz clubs and festivals throughout Europe.

For this evening, Helbock is giving himself a very special birthday present and inviting Iiro Rantala to join him for an entire concert as a duo partner - both rely on the power of melody, harmony and deep emotion, but both also have a touch of mischief, with plenty of wit and charm.