Shostakovich’s work for piano duet and duo may be of lower profile
than his symphonies, string quartets and solo piano repertoire,
but still contains some of his finest music. Recordings have
emerged from the Northern Flowers label (see review)
and elsewhere, but this Toccata Classics set seeks to go a considerable
step further. Shostakovich’s routine habit for his orchestral
works was to make a transcription for piano four hands, so that
the music could be ‘tried out’, not only for his own use, but
so that Communist Party officials could hear for themselves
and decide if a new work was suited to the ideals of the party
and therefore appropriate for public performance. This version
of the Symphony No.9 was therefore almost certainly written
alongside the orchestral score. The work was famously supposed
to be a massive celebration of victory over the Nazis in 1945,
but turned out to have an entirely different character. The
piano duet version of this piece is a highlight of this disc
as you might expect, and with an excellent performance and recording
the work takes on an entirely new life in this setting. In short,
it ‘works’ as a piano piece, with only a few passages during
the slower movements and the extended build-up towards the end
of the final movement where the sustaining quality and colourful
impact of orchestral instruments are missed to a certain extent.
Right from the moment where Vicky Yannoula and Jakob Fichert
hammer out the accompaniment and bring out that witty theme
at 0:48 into the first movement we know we’re in for a treat.
Much of the music has been described as ‘Haydnesque’ or indeed
light and bouncy in nature, at times bringing the nervy rhythms
of Prokofiev to mind, and this is something which makes it sound
as if written for the piano. The clarity of the bass lines,
the variety of ‘oom-pah’ rhythms driving on terrifically and
the exposed nature of the harmonies all work in excellent fashion,
and the whole thing is a discovery and a feast for Shostakovich
fans.
Lighter works and arrangements are of course part of the Shostakovich
piano canon, and the waltz and polka numbers here are ‘pop’
pieces which entertain but needn’t delay us too long. Malcolm
MacDonald’s booklet notes go into the origins of these pieces
in some detail. That Polka from the Ballet Suite No. 2
is perhaps the most familiar, and as a litmus test shows how
much fun the Yannoula and Fichert duo can make of these minor
works. ‘The Chase’ from the film score to Korzikana’s Adventures
is a magnificently daft romp.
For the works with two pianos we get a still very good but slightly
different recorded perspective, and there are one or two minor
tuning issues – a twangy effect in one of the upper notes with
the piano already used for the duet pieces, and between the
two instruments on occasion. Have a listen at 1:47 on the opening
movement of the Suite and you’ll hopefully hear what
I mean. These are actually quite minor issues, but can’t be
left unmentioned. The Suite Op.6 is Shostakovich’s earliest
surviving two-piano work, and pregnant with the emotions surrounding
the sudden death of Dmitri’s father in February 1922. The chiming
bells and romantic overtones are very nicely played here, placed
effectively in Shostakovich’s early idiom, performed with warm
sonority and without too much stretching of the phrases in the
beautiful Nocturne, and conveying all of the rhythmic
verve of the swifter movements.
The Concertino is a later work, written for Shostakovich’s
son Maxim and having some of the character of his second Piano
Concerto which was to come a few years later. This work has
if anything the most orchestral character of all the pieces
here, and the duo builds up huge volumes of sound in a highly
effective performance.
With some fascinating piano duet versions of Shostakovich’s
symphonies to look forward to this promises to be a series to
collect. None of the performances here disappoint, the recording
standard is high, and Vicky Yannoula and Jakob Fichert have
the measure and spirit of all of this music very much at their
fingertips.
Dominy Clements
Vicky Yannoula and Jakob Fichert (piano duet/duo) 
