Complete Original Works for Piano Duet and Duo Vol. 2
Sur Cinq Notes, op.34, for piano 4 hands (1906) [15:48]
Reflets d'Allemagne, op.24, piano 4 hands, op.28 (1905) [23:40]
Huit Courtes Pièces pour Préparer l’Elève à la Musique Moderne, for piano 4 hands, op.41 (1907-08) [19:13]
Invencia Piano Duo
rec. Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, 4 June 2010 (op.28), 9 July 2010 (op.41), 18 May 2011 (op.34). DDD
GRAND PIANO GP 622 [59:07]
Florent SCHMITT (1870-1958)
Complete Original Works for Piano Duet and Duo Vol. 3
Marche du 163e R.I., for piano 4 hands (two pianos), op.48 no.2 (1916) [7:13]
Feuillets de Voyage - book I, op.26 (1903-13) [12:14]
Feuillets de Voyage - book II, op.26 (1903-13) [15:07]
Musiques Foraines, for piano 4 hands, op.22 (1895–1902) [25:17]
Invencia Piano Duo
rec. Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, 4 January 2011 (op.26), 13 May 2011 (op.22), 3 January 2012 (op.48/2). DDD
GRAND PIANO GP 623 [59:51]
After a warmly-received first volume of Schmitt's widely appealing
music for piano duo and duet, released towards the end of last year (review),
the second and third have quickly followed, with the fourth and final
disc likely to appear later this year.
As before, there are some world premiere recordings here, but it is fair
to say there are no indispensable masterpieces. In this corner of Schmitt's
corpus there is less evidence of what the notes refer to as "bold
conviction, elemental intensity and fearless harmonic vocabulary."
On the other hand, there is an abundance of attractive, evocative music
- typical of what Schmitt himself termed his "seductive harmony"
- thoughtfully and oft-times imaginatively scored for four hands, with
the ability to warm even deep-frozen cockles.
In virtuosic terms there are few big challenges to Azerbaijan-born Andrey
Kasparov and Ukrainian Oksana Lutsyshyn, both music professors at Old
Dominion University in Norfolk, USA, and together known as Invencia. Indeed,
some of the music is pedagogic and almost seems within the grasp of a
single pair of hands. Yet when it comes to expressiveness and communication,
Invencia's elegance and telepathic sense of timing make for a highly
satisfying brace of recitals.
Volume 2 contains music of a slightly lesser stature, as it were. The
two deliberately self-limiting works based on the first five notes of
a scale (opp.34 and 41) are clearly protreptic as such, but no less graceful,
and remarkably interesting for all the constraints. The Reflets d'Allemagne
sees Schmitt at his most mellifluous, a delightful blend of Schumann and
Debussy.
The oddly titled Marche du 163e RI ('The 163rd Infantry Regiment
March') injects a somewhat out-of-place military note into the
proceedings of volume 3, but that is soon forgotten among the charm and
sophisticated nostalgia of the Feuillets de Voyage. Musiques Foraines
('Carnival Music') sees a profounder Schmitt taking advantage
of the apparent levity or humour of the treated subjects - including clowns,
erudite elephants and wooden horses - to let rip at last with a range
of technical and expressive detail. For the pianists, that is - the listener
has only to sit back and enjoy the ravishing harmonies, rhythmic diversity
and sparkling melody.
Audio is consistently good, with the same venue - Kasparov and Lutsyshyn's
home turf - used for all recordings. The English-German-French booklet
notes again consist of a general biography by Jerry Rife and specific
commentaries on the featured music by Kasparov himself. All three discs
so far have come in under an hour, a fact which may engender second thoughts
when Grand Piano's top-end retail price is considered. In fairness
to the label, the still-to-be-publicised final volume would have to be
considerably shorter still for the four CDs to squeeze onto three. Volume
1 or 3 should be the choice of anyone whose budget will only stretch to
a single disc.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at artmusicreviews.co.uk
Enjoy the ravishing harmonies, rhythmic diversity and sparkling melody.
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