August 25, 2015

  • Troika: Russian Music for 2 Pianos

     

    Troika
    Irina Shishkina, piano.  Maya Berdieva, piano.
    Urtext JBCC 218
    Total Time:  49:49
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    There tends to be a flurry of recordings of music for two pianos followed by long stretches where nothing really appears.  Troika may not be signaling a new trend, but it does include some rather rare repertoire worth exploring, especially for fans of 20th Century Russian music.  Each of the composers represented on this release span a century of music and provide interesting windows into historical developments as well.

    The program begins with Silhouettes, Op. 23 by Anton Arensky (1861-1906), the second of his suites for two pianos composed in 1892.  Arensky was a student of Rimsky-Korsakov, though here we can see the remnants of latter 19th Century Romanticism and virtuosity with music that perhaps bears a closer resemblance to Liszt.  The five movements take their inspiration though more from Schumann’s Carnival.  Each of the movements represents different characters further demonstrating Arensky’s compositional prowess.  The suite opens with a fugal movement to depict “The Scientist”.  Then we are off to a wonderful period waltz for the “Coquette”.  At the center is “The Clown”, repeating the rather continuous motion scherzo style.  “The Dreamer” is a grand Romantic moment of pathos and lyricism with plenty of drama.  Finally it is off to watch “The Dancer” who has a somewhat Spanish flavor always popular amongst Russian composers.  The work is a true delight also encapsulating musical genres that inspired many Russian composers into the early 20th Century.

    The program jumps ahead to 1954’s Concertino, Op. 94, a brief work by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975).  The piece is contemporary to the tenth symphony and while one finds all the changes here from that symphony, including a rather Classical sonata-allegro structure, there is the suggestion that it is also a reflection the tyranny that Shostakovich had felt throughout the previous decade.  Parallels between Stalin and the Tsar’s tyrannical rule might be part of the fabric of this piece that seems to also hover between the 19th and 20th Centuries.  There is a sense of optimism in this work, even as the darker introduction might suggest that it will be short-lived.  Sometimes one can hear a bit of the second piano concerto style as well as the scherzo zips along and veers into interesting key areas and back with certainly some carnival atmosphere as well.

    Valery Gavrilin (1939-1999) is a lesser known composer from the latter 20th Century.  He is most remembered in Russia for a ballet based on Chekov’s “Anna on the Neck”.  The “Sketches” recorded here were the basis for that music and feature some 18 pieces published in three volumes.  These were begun back in the 1970s but not published until 1994.  The program features 3 from the first and third book and four from the second.  These miniatures are filled with suggestions of Russian folk music and a variety of dance styles (“Troika”, “Galop”, “March”, “Waltz”, “Tarantella”).  Within these pieces one hears so many of the stylistic ideas of Russian piano music from Mussorgsky to Stravinsky and beyond coupled with great wit. There always feels like a bit of burlesque salon music is not far behind.   The music’s rhythmic ideas drive the music well while the wonderful accessible harmonic writing adds a great and colorful addition to often engaging melodic ideas.  This is a real find for fans of Russian piano music as it is a delightful collection of pieces!

    The recording of the two pianos works quite well balanced so that the blend feels more like one large instrument.  Articulation is excellent, though some pedal work in minor spots seems to be a bit late, or unresponsive.  This is a really small thing that detracts in no way from the excellent, and truly well thought out program presented by Irina Shishkina and Maya Berdieva.  Their performances capture both the large Romantic ideas and traverse the stylistic changes quite well.  The only really unfortunate thing is the program is pretty short.  Still, this is well worth seeking out!