Mosh Pit

Great road trip tunes!

This disc consists of works by Gershwin, Nancarrow, Barber, Corigliano, Shawn, and Schoenfield. Gershwin’s “Cuban Overture”, most familiar to this listener in its symphonic form, was transcribed by the composer for piano four-hands. And the performance here is stellar – it is exciting and enjoyable. Nancarros’ “Sonatina” is a real rhythmic challenge for both the performer and the listener. It is evident how difficult this piece is to play. Barber’s “Sourvenirs (Op. 28)” is a treat – the playing is evocative and captivating, particularly in the 3rd movement “Pas De Deux”. Corigliano’s “Gazebo Dances”, originally written as a set of piano pieces for four-hands, is just charming from the opening Overture all the way through to the closing Tarantella. Allen Shawn’s “Three Dance Portraits” is a neat and satisfying work, both punch and evocative, and is an example of a piece that sounds relatively simple but is truly challenging for the pianists to pull off – and Nakagoshi and Zimmermann do so marvelously. Unfortunately, the final work on the recording, Schoenfield’s “Five Days From The Life Of A Manic Depressive”, while obviously very difficult to play, was somewhat less than satisfying for this listener. The work is evocative as the title suggests, but is not exactly pleasing music. The well-written liner notes indicate that the piece was written during a particularly difficult time in the composer’s life, and you can certainly hear that as the work unfolds. The Sono Luminus label has provided both a conventional CD as well as a Blu-Ray audio CD, and the sound quality on both is fantastic. While I don’t normally gravitate toward recordings of piano for four-hands, with the exception of the last piece I very much enjoyed this disc. Strongly recommended.

Wonderful! Talented Artist's, lovely instrumental piano for dinner parties, or just the joy of listening... Please enjoy all : )