No Longer Available

Dmitri Shostakovich: Complete Works for Piano Duo
Concertino in A minor, Op. 94; Suite in F# minor, Op. 6; Tarantella[a] (from Tarantella and Prelude; incorrectly printed "from the Filmmusic to 'The Gadfly'"); Waltz and Polka[b] (incorrectly printed "from 'The Golden Age'"); Stravinsky: Concerto per due pianoforte soli 1935; Prokofiev: Schubert Waltzes, Suite; Grigorasch Dinicu: Hora staccatto (arr. for two pianos by Pantscho Vladigerov)[c].
Klavierduo Genova & Dimitrov: Aglika Genova, Liuben Dimitrov (pianos).
CPO 999 599-2. DDD. TT 70:16.
Recorded Hans Rosbaud Studio, Germany, 4-5 May 1998.
World Première Recordings[a,b,c].

DSCH - Hommage à Dmitri Chostakovitch, Volume 2
Sonata for violin and piano, Op. 134[a]; Merry March [printed "La Petite Marche Joyeuse"] for two pianos[b]; Suite for Two Pianos, Op. 6[c] [incorrectly printed "Op. 61"]; Concertino in A minor, Op. 94[d] [incorrectly printed "Op. 84"].
Alexandre Brussilovsky (violin)[a], Pascal Godart[a], Thérèse Dussaut[b,c,d], Serge Polusmiak[b,c,d] (pianos).
Recorded Espace Fazioli, France, 1997.
Suoni e Colori SC 53008. DDD. TT 70:40.
World Première Recording[b].

As the presence of Merry March for two pianos on the Suoni e Colori disc demonstrates, CPO's title is inaccurate. Among other missing piano duet works are the composer's own arrangements for two pianos of both Piano Concerti, and The Chase from the film The Adventures of Korzinkina, Op. 59 (see film music reviews below).

Furthermore, the Tarantella on the CPO disc is not, as the track listing and notes claim, the Tarantella from The Gadfly. Shostakovich did indeed arrange a piano four hands Tarantella from The Gadfly's Folk Festival (a.k.a. Spanish Dance), and this would have been a world première recording and an appropriate addition to the current volume if it were here.

Instead, we are given the far more interesting world première recording of the Tarantella from Tarantella and Prelude, an opus-numberless piano duet for children from 1954. The Prelude was simply Elena Koven's four hands arrangement of the Prelude No. 15 from Op. 87, and Derek Hulme explains that the Tarantella is a reduction of Scherzo No. 4 in the suite from The Unforgettable Year 1919 film score. It is an impetuous frolic, lasting under a minute and a half. The main melody is strongly reminiscent of the Polka, Number 26 from Act II, Scene 4 of Shostakovich's operetta Moscow, Cheryomushki, which he began three years later, and it may well be the musical germ of that tune. The present performance by Bulgarian-born Aglika Genova and Liuben Dimitrov is effervescent and full of good cheer.

The Waltz and Polka are actually not the familiar movements from The Golden Age. The Waltz is the Waltz from Ballet Suite No. 4, originating in the film score to Song of the Great Rivers, Op. 95, while the Polka is the Polka from Jazz Suite No. 1, later used in Ballet Suite No. 2. This release would seem to present the world première recordings of these arrangements, and Genova and Dimitrov give characterful readings.

The Suoni e Colori release also contains a world première recording. I believe that Michel Le Naour must be thinking of the Fantasy for two pianos, one of the juvenilia the composer destroyed in 1926, when he writes in the notes that, "The Little Joyous March, which is little played, counts among the first works of the master." In fact, Shostakovich composed the Merry March as a children's piece for four hands at the ripe old age of 42, in May 1949, numbering the score Opus 81 but then removing this designation and applying it to his oratorio The Song of the Forests. It seems that he did not intend these four pages of music (one page's-worth is repeated during play) to be published. It is a cocky little piece, and Dussaut and Polusmiak play it with light-hearted alacrity.

The four-movement Suite in F# minor was the 16-year-old Shostakovich's most ambitious piece to date. He wrote it after the death of his father, and dedicated it to him. While its interval progressions have the predictability one would expect from an immature composer, it is uncanny how fully developed Shostakovich's personal style already was by this point - listening to the Suite, nobody would mistake the author. The work opens with a sombre Prelude, patently funereal, which is painted in emphatic oils by Genova and Dimitrov and pastel watercolours by Dussaut and Polusmiak. The Suite then moves into a highly attractive Fantastic Dance which the Bulgarians serve with a stronger Spanish flavour. The Nocturne begins as an impressionistic reverie, then is disturbed by the reappearance of the tragic opening theme. Consistent with their tactics elsewhere, the Suoni e Colori team invest almost twenty-five percent more time on it than do CPO's duo; both approaches sit well. The emotionally varied Finale mixes new themes with reworkings of material from the earlier movements, and the opening theme features prominently at the end. Genova and Dimitrov generally suggest the young pianist-composer more idiomatically than do Dussaut and Polusmiak, but the latter's tack is attractive as a light suite.

In the Concertino, both duos are equally fleet-footed in the faster passages, but Genova and Dimitrov devote much less time to the slow bars. This is a light work, and I'm not sure that it gains from investing as much contemplation into the slow outer pages as do Dussaut and Polusmiak. Though both duos take the whirlwind note runs at virtually identical gaits, the Bulgarians somehow give the impression of enjoying them more than do the Suoni e Colori team.

Of CPO's couplings, the most enjoyable is the arrangement of Hora staccato, an encore staple that Romanian violinist and composer Grigoras Dinicu wrote in 1906 for violin and piano. You probably won't identify it by name, but will recognise it right away when you hear it. The original scoring has appeared on disc before, but as far as I can determine, this appears to be the world première in the piano four hands arrangement of Bulgarian Pantcho Vladigerov.

The one truly weighty piece of music on these two new releases is the Sonata for Violin and Piano. Alexandre Brussilovsky and Pascal Godart are a strong partnership in this work, and give an impressive display of technical assurance and stamina in the demanding second movement. Particularly good is their matching of dynamic expressiveness to the ever-shifting tonalities of the Largo. This is also a very emotive reading. Shostakovich wrote the Sonata in 1968 during the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and you can tell how much is at stake from the shrill terror in Brussilovsky's double-stopped shrieks from Bar 273/5:10 of the second movement. This is a performance that stands up well to comparison with my first choice, the even more incorporeal reading from violinist Shlomo Mintz and pianist Viktoria Postnikova on Erato (2292-45804-2). Certainly, the acoustics of this new disc are less "ambient" and more clearly revealing of the instruments' original notes than were the Erato disc's, fine as they were.

I can recommend both releases without hesitation, but their documentation should have been handled with more care, especially in CPO's case.

W. Mark Roberts
Top

DSCH No. 11.
Copyright © 1999 DSCH Journal.
All Rights Reserved.