Unplayed Tales… in 40 Fingers (Hyperion)
★★★☆☆
German composers don’t know how you can have enjoyable. Suppose no additional than Mozart’s Musical Joke, or Beethoven’s fat-shaming of the violinist Schuppanzigh. Not humorous in any respect. To not point out Schumann and Brahms, or the feeble anti-critic jokes made by Wagner, Mahler and Richard Strauss.
So it was in a cautious state of mind that I approached a frisky album of unknown items for a number of pianos and orchestra by Mendelssohn, Moscheles, Schubert and Liszt. 4-hand is the place musicians share in-jokes. Was it a enjoyable hour? Truly, not removed from it.
The primary piece, by Mendelssohn and his pal Ignaz Moscheles, was written for a London charity gala, and you may think about what they’re like, all black tie and décolletée. The work takes a theme by the lethal critical Carl Maria von Weber and turns it into a celebration recreation, a form of musical chairs for idle composers. When the theme wears out, the comedy duo play little riffs across the lack of ability of constipated Germans ever to complete a chunk. A Grand Duo by Moscheles, written all on his personal, reveals why his mighty status died about ten minutes after he did.
Franz Liszt, most likely the best musical propagator the world has ever recognized, fell in love with Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy for solo piano and turned it right into a model for piano and orchestra. The Israeli pianist Alexander Tamir made that two pianos and orchestra. Effectively definitely worth the effort, filled with musicality and surprising asides. A nineteenth century chap referred to as Ernest Pauer turned two marches by Schubert into an eight-hand piano suite. It should clatter unbearably on stage, however with quantity management in your front room works slightly properly.
The pianists concerned on this album are members of the Israeli MultiPiano Ensemble. Their showstopper on tour is Holst’s Planets for pianos and percussion. Now that I’d like to listen to.
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Norman Lebrecht is likely one of the most widely-read commentators on music, tradition and cultural politics. He’s an everyday presenter on BBC Radio 3 and a contributor to the Wall Avenue Journal, Bloomberg, Standpoint, Sinfini and different publications. His weblog, Slipped Disc, is among the many most generally learn cultural websites on-line, breaking unique tales and campaigning in opposition to human abuse and acts of injustice within the cultural industries.
