Bartók: Complete Music for Two Pianos

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Some great Bartók rarities here and the Sonata receives a spirited, noisy outing. The obsessive-sounding Ligeti may be more fun to play than to hear. — BBC Music Magazine, June 2014, 3 out of 5 stars

Release Date: 31st Mar 2014
Catalogue No: 94737
Label: Brilliant Classics
Length: 1 hour 56 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Bartók: Suite for Two Pianos, BB 122, Sz. 115a

Work length29:45

$7.00

$9.10

Matteo Fossi, Marco Gaggini

I. Serenata. Comodo

Track length6:26

$1.00

$1.30

II. Allegro diabolico

Track length8:49

$2.00

$2.60

III. Scena della Puszta: Andante

Track length7:29

$2.00

$2.60

IV. Per finire: Comodo

Track length7:01

$2.00

$2.60

Bartók: A csodálatos mandarin (the Miraculous Mandarin), Op. 19, BB 82, [version for 2 pianos]

Work length33:15

Album only

Matteo Fossi, Marco Gaggini

A csodalatos mandarin [the Miraculous Mandarin], Op. 19, BB 82 [version for 2 pianos]

Track length33:15

Album only

Bartók: 7 Pieces from Mikrokosmos, Sz. 108, BB 120

Work length8:38

$7.00

$9.10

Matteo Fossi, Marco Gaggini

No. 1, Bulgarian rhythm: Allegro molto (Arr. Of Vol. 4, No. 113)

Track length1:11

$1.00

$1.30

No. 2, Chord and trill study: Moderato (Arr. Of Vol. 3, No. 69)

Track length1:02

$1.00

$1.30

No. 3, Perpetuum mobile: Allegro molto (Arr. Of Vol. 5, No. 135)

Track length0:54

$1.00

$1.30

No. 4, Short canon and its inversion: Allegro (Arr. Of Vol. 5, No. 123)

Track length0:46

$1.00

$1.30

No. 5, New Hungarian folksong: Ben ritmato (Arr. Of Vol. 5, No. 127)

Track length1:00

$1.00

$1.30

No. 6, Chromatic invention: Allegro (Arr. Of Vol. 6, No. 145)

Track length1:11

$1.00

$1.30

No. 7, Ostinato. Vivacissimo (Arr. Of Vol. 6, No. 146)

Track length2:34

$1.00

$1.30

Bartók: Sonata for Two Pianos & Percussion, BB 115, Sz. 110

Work length26:54

$6.00

$7.75

Matteo Fossi, Marco Gaggini

I. Assai lento - Allegro molto

Track length13:22

$3.00

$3.85

II. Lento, ma non troppo

Track length6:24

$1.00

$1.30

III. Allegro non troppo

Track length7:08

$2.00

$2.60

Ligeti: Pieces (3) for two pianos

Work length17:44

$4.00

$5.20

Matteo Fossi, Marco Gaggini

No. 1, Monument

Track length4:42

$1.00

$1.30

No. 2, Self-portrait with Reich and Riley, and Chopin in the background

Track length8:05

$2.00

$2.60

No. 3, In a Gentle Flowing Movement

Track length4:57

$1.00

$1.30

About
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About

This 2-CD set presents a complete survey of Bartók's music for two pianos. The works and arrangements here all stem from Bartók's special artistic collaboration with his wife, the pianist Dittá Pásztory. From 1938, the couple began giving regular public concerts together, and this led the composer to write his version for two pianos of the Suite Op.4, an arrangement of seven of the pieces from Mikrokosmos, and the much‐loved Sonata for two pianos and percussion.

The works included here are testimony to Bartók's skilful and remarkably versatile approach to piano‐writing. In the Suite Op.4b, for example, Bartók radically revised the original orchestral score of the Suite Op.4 (one of his earliest works, and one of the first to bring to fruition the musical ideas that he explored after researching Hungarian music's rich folk heritage) to create a work that is so idiomatically pianistic that one would never guess it had originally been written for orchestra. By contrast, the transcription of the brilliantly colourful ballet score The Miraculous Mandarin brings the dramatic orchestration of this controversial work to life. The pieces from Mikrokosmos were originally studies for solo piano; in the twopiano arrangement Bartók transforms them into veritable virtuoso showpieces.

The Sonata for two pianos and percussion is one of Bartók's most famous works and its striking rhythmic experimentation and consummate assimilation of folk influences mark the culmination of the composer's mature style. Bartók's complete works for two pianos are complemented here by György Ligeti's Three Pieces for two pianos; Ligeti was greatly influenced by Bartók's legacy and went on to become one of the most important Hungarian composers of the twentieth century.

These challenging works are performed by acclaimed pianists Matteo Fossi and Marco Gaggini, who formed a piano duo while studying together in Florence in 2004. Their pioneering “Two Pianos Project” aims to extend the scope of the piano far beyond the confines of its traditional repertoire and has given rise to many warmly received recordings.

Reviews

June 2014

Some great Bartók rarities here and the Sonata receives a spirited, noisy outing. The obsessive-sounding Ligeti may be more fun to play than to hear.

Bartók: Complete Music for Two Pianos

2 CDs

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