Search - Johannes Brahms, Franz [Vienna] Schubert, Maurice Ravel :: One Piano, Four Hands

Topnotch Four-Hand Program that Includes Some Rarities

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 04/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The heyday of the piano duet (one piano, four hands) was the nineteenth century when almost every middle-class household had a piano and most youngsters learned to play it. Further, piped-in music was non-existent, so home entertainment often involved people gathering around the piano while amateurs played and sang. Alas, those days are gone. If one tries to think of 20th-century four-hand masterpieces one is hard-pressed to go much beyond the Ravel 'Mother Goose' recorded here. This CD is the first by a piano duet consisting of Igor Kipnis, certainly one of the best harpsichordists of our era, and his young Juilliard-trained partner, Karen Kushner. Kipnis has made close to 100 recordings as harpsichordist. Kushner's CD of music by Kevin Oldham, a composer who died tragically young, is one that I've enjoyed for a long time; my review of that fine disc is also here at Amazon.The first works recorded here are the much-loved Brahms 'Liebeslieder Waltzes,' Op. 52a, perhaps better known in their piano/vocal version. Having performed them both as pianist and singer, I must say that I prefer the piano version; they tend to dance better without the texts. (By the way, why is it we always refer to them by their German title rather than the more fetching 'Lovesong Walzes'?) Kipnis-Kushner bring a lightness and Schwung to their performance that brings a smile to one's face; it is difficult to avoid the temptation to get up and dance. This surely is the highest form of Hausmusik, the culmination of a long tradition of piano duets, of which the next work, the Schubert 'Divertissement à l'hongroise,' Op. 54, is an earlier exemplar. For me, although quintessential Schubert, this work has never been a great favorite, although Kipnis-Kushner endow it with the same rhythmic point and lightness as in the Brahms. I would LOVE to hear them play Schubert's undoubted masterpiece in this genre, the F minor Fantasia, D. 940, although they would probably have to go some to better the 20-year-old recording by Murray Perahia and Radu Lupu.There have been many recordings of Ravel's 'Ma mère l'oye' and I don't think I've heard a bad one. Kipnis-Kushner do an outstanding job, and for me, eclipse my prior favorite, that of the husband-wife team, Walter and Béatriz Klien, in a long-ago Vox recording. Again, as a pianist who has performed this suite, I have to say that it is one of the most enjoyable duets to PLAY, and it is clear that Kipnis-Kushner are having a whale of a time at it. One further note: the 'Prélude' and 'Dance du Rouet,' newly written by Ravel for his later orchestral version for the 'Mother Goose' ballet, are in piano-duo arrangements by Lucien Garban and are given their first recordings here. The rest of the disc consists of three not-well-known pieces totaling nine minutes. Gabriel Fauré and André Messager collaborated on a silly little bijou based on Wagnerian themes, 'Souveniers de Bayreuth.' This quadrille is as deliciously witty (and perhaps wicked) as can be. Calimerio Soares (b. 1944) wrote his 'Battuccata' for the Kipnis-Kushner Duo in 1998 to use as an encore during a Brazilian tour. The title is a portmanteau of 'batuque,' an Afro-Brazilian dance, and 'toccata,' and that pretty much describes this lively, accentuated tour de force. One wonders how Kipnis avoids getting his hands tangled up with Kushner's, and vice versa. Finally, we have Walden Hughes's piano duo arrangement of the 19-year-old George Gershwin's and Will Donaldson's 'Rialto Ripples,' composed when they were both song-pluggers at Remick's in 1917. Its thrice-familiar twists and turns are played with abandon by Kipnis-Kushner, bringing this delightful 76 minute program to a chuckling finish.Heartily recommended.Scott Morrison"

A Four Hand Tour De Force

Jen | Lake Forest, IL United States | 03/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are some flashy four handers out there who thrive more on gimmickry and costume than musicianship. Not so with the Kushner/Kipnis duo: this is pure musical delight. The sensitivity and flawless interplay made me wonder if the same person had dubbed himself, but I know that is not the case. As we know, Kipnis was THE premier harpsicordist of his time. Kusher, no less an artist, is a younger light in the piano world. I'd also highly recommend her Oldham recordings and, if you can get a copy off ebay, her Chopin Mazurkas. What a pianist!"