Search - Dmitry Shostakovich, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky :: Russian Miniatures for Young Pianists

MINIATURE DEJA VU?

Melvyn M. Sobel | Freeport (Long Island), New York | 08/15/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Last year I was quite taken by a CD simply called INNA HEIFETZ PLAYS TCHAIKOVSKY, SHOSTAKOVICH & PROKOFIEV. In my Amazon review (10/6/00), I called it "a fetching collection of miniatures... depicting 'a child's-eye-view' of the world."



MINIATURES FOR YOUNG PIANISTS, played so well by Rimma Bobritskaia, another pianist whose name is new to me, duplicates the Heifetz repertoire exactly, with the exception of dissimilar Shostakovich works. Heifetz opts to include the composer's delightful Dolls' Dances For Piano, Op. 91c, while Ms. Bobritskaia gives us a charming selection of deliciously rare Shostakovich, including a set of seven pieces (written for his daughter, Galina) simply titled Children's Pieces (c. 1944), two Aphorisms from Op.13 (the particularly beautiful "Berceuse" and "Nocturne"), one dance from his Danses Fantastiques, Op. 5, a Contredanse and, lastly, a Danse Espagnole, all of which are the more fascinating because of their rarity--- and because, as in the Heifetz CD, we get to see the softer underbelly of a composer far more famous for his passionate symphonic music and intensively penetrating chamber music.



With Tchaikovsky's Children's Album (aka Album For The Young), Op. 39 and Prokofiev's Music For Children, Op. 65, both of which precede the Shostakovich, Bobritskaia, like Heifetz, plays both sets with a genuine Russian simpatico and devotion, immediatly appealing. [And, if you need a "touch" of authenticity, she was recorded at the Moscow Conservatory in 1991.]



The Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev are popular, self-recommending works..."not just for children"... filled with nostalgic glimpses of childhood wrapped superbly around wonderful melodies and sentiments that are just right, musically and emotionally. So, then, since the Heifetz and Bobritskaia CDs are almost exactly alike, the Shostakovich may well be the deciding factor, and the choice is a difficult one.



[Running time: 60:15]



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