Cyprien Katsaris turns his boundlessly curious mind, and fingers,
to rare transcriptions of various Slavic masterworks. The programme
falls into two halves: the Khachaturian half, and the everybody-else
one. All are played extremely well and all are very enjoyable.
The Khachaturian half comes first, and includes such hits as the Sabre
Dance. This is in a transcription which makes this far more plausible
on solo piano than I ever imagined possible. Then there’s the
heartrending Adagio from
Gayaneh, and the famous Adagio of
Spartacus and Phrygia. These are all done with poetry - the Sabre
Dance is the only clip that’s brash or over-the-top - and a
real sensitive feel for how best to translate this music onto the
piano. Thus, though Spartacus and Phrygia’s great love theme
may be faster than usual, the instrument’s sustaining ability
means that there is really very little emotion lost.
What comes after this half is two big Rachmaninov chunks - the second
suite for two pianos, here reduced to one with flair and virtuosity
that borders on the impossible, and a surprisingly good reduction
of the Second Symphony’s adagio - and a bunch of miniatures.
One of Borodin’s
Polovtsian Dances left me dying to hear
more of them, and we round out with a series of song transcriptions
which serve as encores. If you’re like me you’ll be agape
at the poetry of Karlowicz’s song “Dla zasmuconej”
(“To a grieving maiden”). Dvořák’s “Songs
my mother taught me” also makes an affecting appearance.
The transcriptions range from incredibly effective (Blumenfeld’s
Borodin) to simply jaw-dropping: Vladimir Leyetchkiss’s Rachmaninov
suite, which I could swear still is being played by two pianists.
Cyprien Katsaris presides over it all with commanding authority, and
the sound, close up, reminds me of Hyperion’s engineering, with
one exception: track 15 (Karlowicz) sounds like it’s from another
session.
For my fellow pianophiles I can give this the highest praise. For
those who aren’t pianophiles: this album is one of the reasons
why we exist.
Brian Reinhart
Track listing
Aram KHACHATURIAN (1903-1978)
Valse from “Masquerade” (Lev Soline/Cyprien Katsaris)
[4:53]
Sabre Dance from “Gayaneh” (Lev Soline/Cyprien Katsaris)
[3:18]
Gayaneh’s Adagio (Alec Rowley) [3:41]
Lullaby from “Gayaneh” (Oscar Levant) [5:45]
Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia (Emin Khachaturian) [7:31]
Alexander BORODIN (1833-1887)
Polovtsian Dance No. 17 from “Prince Igor” (Felix Blumenfeld)
[2:47]
Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)
Suite for two pianos No. 2, Op 17 (Vladimir Leyetchkiss) [23:48]
Adagio from Symphony No. 2 (Georg Kirkor) [13:03]
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
At the ball, Op. 38 No. 3 (Earl Wild) [2:36]
Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Songs my mother taught me, Op. 55 No. 4 (Eduard Schütt) [3:40]
Stanislaw MONIUSZKO (1819-1872)
O matjo moja (Michal Marian Biernacki) [2:20]
Mieczyslaw KARLOWICZ (1876-1909)
Dla zasmuconej (Karol A. Penson) [2:29]
Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949)
Allerseelen, Op. 10 No. 8 (Karol A. Penson) [2:42]
