Let us start with the
nit-picking and the provisos. This is
not a DSD recording, it is PCM 24 bit
/ 96 kHz. If you do not know what that
means, then don’t worry about it. If
you do know what that means then you
can see that DG are not yet purists
when it comes to SACD recording. It
is a 5.1 recording and it shows, as
I mention below. The disc is a measly
49 minutes long and that isn’t really
good enough.
On the bright side,
that is the end of my negative comments,
because this SACD is a cracker! If one
were to search the classical world for
two pianists and money was no limit,
you might well end up with these two
anyway. As a duo Argerich and Pletnev
are almost impossibly well matched.
The timbre of the two pianos is beautifully
caught and they play together as if
they’ve been doing it for a lifetime.
The booklet mentions the "exceptional
creative atmosphere" that existed
during the recording sessions. This
is most strikingly obvious during Cinderella’s
Waltz Track [5] when the gorgeous
main melody flows between the two keyboards
with quite extraordinary facility. They
are indeed more like one pianist with
four arms. Pletnev has transcribed just
over 35 minutes of Prokofiev’s score
in this Suite, that is about
a quarter of the entire score. Prokofiev
himself produced several different suites
from it, one could say he milked it
thoroughly. There are the Three Pieces
for Piano Op.95, the Ten Pieces
for Piano Op.97, the Adagio for
Cello and Piano Op.97b, the Six
Pieces for Piano Op.102, the Suites
No.1,2 and 3 for orchestra Op.107, 108
and 109, and even a movement of
the Waltz Suite Op.110 is from
Cinderella. Pletnev has inevitably
overlapped some of these in his reworking,
but of course his is for four hands,
two pianos, which gives him more opportunity
for more complex textures. I loved it
all. Cinderella may not be quite
Romeo and Juliet but it runs
it close. For those lucky enough to
have multi-channel SACD try out Track
[9], the Finale, for a nice subwoofer
moment. Pletnev apparently hits the
piano strings with the flat of his hand
whilst still playing the keyboard with
the other hand to achieve the sonorous
and threatening bell-tolling. Out of
curiosity I tried this last track on
my CD player in straight stereo and
it still sounded very impressive, if
not quite so "present". It
is a sign of a well balanced multi-channel
recording that the rear channels never
drew my attention until I switched to
stereo and then I noticed their absence.
The Ravel is of course
performed just as the composer intended.
The move from two pianos in the Prokofiev
to one in the Ravel is very audible
indeed, as it should be. The sound is
altogether less wide but still as startlingly
realistic. So realistic that one can
hear the dampers, the breathing of the
artists and the very occasional vocal
accompaniment. The performance is another
tour de force and shows again what a
magical score this is even without the
benefits of Ravel’s orchestration. Marvellous
stuff.
I am a bit disappointed
with the notes. Rather too many of the
column inches are a rambling panegyric
about Pletnev rather than Prokofiev
and Ravel gets a brief mention at the
end. I suppose Pletnev did do the transcription
so this has to be recognised somehow.
Who cares, you do not have to read them.
The actual track listing and recording
data is all there in enough detail to
satisfy.
Dave Billinge
Martha Argerich and Mikhail Pletnev, pianos
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 00289 474 8682 [49.
40]