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Presto News - 8th November 2010Schubert: Piano Duets |
 Schubert wrote almost as much music for piano duet as he did for piano solo. He wrote his first piano duet when he was thirteen and spent much of his final year (while dying of syphilis) writing a series of four-hand masterpieces. It is perhaps surprising therefore that they are not more frequently performed than they are. Earlier this year Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne did their bit to try and redress that with a series of concerts around the UK, and luckily for us they took their programme into the recording studio as well – the result of which has just been released by Hyperion.  Steven Osborne and Paul Lewis The programme features two of his most famous duets from his final year (1828) - the Allegro in A minor (Lebensstürme), D947 and the F minor Fantasie, D940 - along with two sets of variations, a rondo and a fugue. They are brilliant works full of drama, charm and subtlety, but are in many ways much more difficult to perform than the solo works. Apart from the obvious physically awkward bits of clashing elbows and jostling fingers there are other issues when playing piano duets which are all too easy for non-pianists (like me) to forget. For example as Steven Osborne pointed out in his blog earlier this year: ”Only one person can pedal at a time, so someone has to cede control of this crucial tool to their partner who inevitably has different pedalling instincts. Even if they didn't, the instinct is initially to pedal in accordance with one's own part which can ruin the sound of the other part. On the other hand, pedalling in a way which supports a melody you're not yourself playing can be surprisingly tricky. Then there is the problem of timing. Piano notes have a very percussive start, which means that it is exceptionally hard for two players to make chords sound together - any discrepancy of more than one or two hundredths of a second is audible. This can be a serious headache for music which needs rhythmic flexibility.” Their achievement on this disc is really quite remarkable as, apart from successfully conquering the issues mentioned above, they do so with a degree of uniformity in approach and musicianship that makes it very hard to tell them apart. They have the complete measure of Schubert’s writing - at times dramatic, at times reflective, and at others full of real charm and allure. And in the Fantasie in particular they achieve a really special stillness which is both striking and captivating. Textures never sound cluttered and you can always hear the most important melodic line (or lines) clearly. These are two brilliant musicians at their absolute best and is without doubt one of my favourite discs this year.
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 Schubert: Piano DuetsPaul Lewis (piano) & Steven Osborne (piano) |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
New Releases8th November 2010 |
This is just the pick of the recent releases. The New Releases and Future Releases pages are always available for browsing all the new and forthcoming releases. |
 Rossini: Stabat MaterAnna Netrebko (soprano), Joyce DiDonato (mezzo), Lawrence Brownlee (tenor), Ildebrando D'Arcangelo (bass), Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio PappanoAntonio Pappano and Italy’s leading symphony orchestra, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, continue their highly successful collaboration with EMI Classics with a studio recording of Rossini’s work for chorus, orchestra and soloists, Stabat Mater. They are joined by four international star soloists: Anna Netrebko, Joyce DiDonato, Lawrence Brownlee and Ildebrando D’Archangelo. |
 Schumann: Dichterliebe & LiederkreisMark Padmore (tenor) & Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano)Tenor Mark Padmore is deftly supported by fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout in this lieder recital of Heine settings by Robert Schumann and Franz Lachner (5 songs from Sängerfahrt). |
 The Romantic Piano Concerto 52 - Goetz & WieniawskiHamish Milne (piano), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Michal DworzynskiHamish Milne makes a welcome return to the Romantic Piano Concerto series with two recherché delights from the nineteenth century. Józef, ‘the other Wieniawski’ is the brother of the more famous violinist, Henryk. His highly attractive Piano Concerto in G minor is in the mould of those by Chopin and Liszt, with the piano very much in the foreground. Goetz’s music, although full of melodic gift and mastery of form, was rarely performed after the end of his short life. His piano concerto proved to be the most successful of his orchestral works played during his lifetime. |
 Caldara in Vienna (Deluxe Edition) - Forgotten Castrato AriasPhilippe Jaroussky, Concerto Köln, Emmanuelle HaïmPhilippe Jaroussky continues his rediscovery of long-forgotten arias for high male voice with this collection of music by Antonio Caldara, a contemporary of Bach, Handel and Vivaldi, who was the first composer to set many librettos by the great Metastasio and Zeno. |
 Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 & Romeo & Juliet Fantasy OvertureCity of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Andris NelsonsThe City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and its music director Andris Nelsons here present their second Tchaikovsky CD, in an ongoing cycle, for Orfeo. Besides the Fantasy Overture Romeo and Juliet, we offer his Symphony No. 6 in B minor, the so-called ‘Pathétique’. If one takes the first version of Romeo as a starting point, then a full 25 years lie between these two works (the Symphony reached its first performance only nine days before the sudden, mysterious death of its composer). But both works bear the marks of Tchaikovsky’s emotion-laden compositional style. |
 Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Volume 2Alina Ibragimova (violin) & Cédric Tiberghien (piano)“Ferociously gifted young musicians” [The Times, May 2010] Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien return with the second in their series of the complete Beethoven violin sonatas, recorded live at Wigmore Hall in February 2010. Volume One in the cycle, released in March 2010, was received to resounding critical acclaim, with the FT stating “the partnership with Tiberghien sounds fresh and spontaneous - outstandingly so in the opening movement of the eighth sonata.” Now the second concert in the trilogy is being made available as a live recording, featuring the sonatas in F (Spring Op.24), A (Op.12 No.2) and G major (Op.96). |
 Dinastia Borgia: The Borgia DynastyMontserrat Figueras, Pascal Bertin, Lluis Vilamajó & Marc Mauillon, La Capella Reial de Catalunya & Hesperion XXI, Jordi SavallCoinciding with the 500th anniversary of the birth of Saint Francis Borgia, Fourth Duke of Gandia, Jordi Savall and Alia Vox offer a visually lavish and artistically comprehensive new release entitled Dinastia Borgia. |
 Dutton Epoch - 7 New releasesA whole host of world premieres amongst this month's Dutton Epoch release. Of particular note are the second volume of John Foulds Orchestral Works, and two discs of Rutland Boughton who died fifty years ago in 1960, but to be honest they are all worth exploring. |
 Australian Eloquence16 new re-issuesAnother superb batch of re-issues from the popular Australian Eloquence series. Included this month is a great Percy Grainger album featuring amongst others Peter Pears and Benjamin Britten, Sir Charles Mackerras's 1982 Pineapple Poll, Stravinsky's Soldiers Tale narrated by Sir John Gielgud, Walton's Façade narrated by Dame Edith Sitwell and Sir Peter Pears, and Ashkenazy conducting Mahler's 3rd Symphony. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 6th November 2010 |
Building a Library - Mahler: Rückert-Lieder |
 First ChoiceJanet Baker, New Philharmonia Orchestra, John Barbirolli |
Disc of the Week |
 Debussy - Orchestral Works Volume 4(including Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien and Khamma)Orchestre National de Lyon, Jun Märkl |
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