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CD Review
Piotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky
For Four Hands
- Symphony #4 in F minor, Op. 36
- Roméo and Juliet
- Sixteen from Fifty Russian Folk Songs
Anthony Goldstone & Caroline Clemmow, piano
Divine Art 25020 DDD
Obviously, most music lovers are familiar with this symphony, one of the most magnificent Tchaikovskian creations but this arrangement for four hands will strike you like a bomb!
Goldstone and Clemmow play the Taneyev arrangement to the manner born and they also manage to bring a subtle intimacy to the music that is really wonderful. The wonderful Andante takes on an almost Chopinesque like harmony whilst the rambunctious Finale is an astonishing 'tour-de-force'.
The 'Roméo and Juliet' is, if anything, more successful than the symphony with its wonderful melodies and dashing dialogue between the two pianists. I was completely taken aback by the intricacy of Mme Rimsky-Korsakoff's arrangement; maybe we could now have the Schéhérazade on two pianos please?
Divine Art's pristine presentation, copious notes and a stunning recording is certainly a combination for a winner. Lovers of piano music and such fantastic arrangements alike cannot fail to garner huge enjoyment out of this superb disc.
Copyright © 2007, Gerald Fenech
