Strauss/Ravel/Dukas Piano Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Richard Strauss, Paul (Abraham) Dukas, Maurice Ravel
Label: Teldec (Warner Classics)
Magazine Review Date: 7/1996
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 62
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 4509-96435-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Symphonia domestica |
Richard Strauss, Composer
Alexandre Rabinovitch, Piano Martha Argerich, Piano Richard Strauss, Composer |
| (L')Apprenti sorcier, '(The) Sorcerer's Apprentice |
Paul (Abraham) Dukas, Composer
Alexandre Rabinovitch, Piano Martha Argerich, Piano Paul (Abraham) Dukas, Composer |
| (La) Valse |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Alexandre Rabinovitch, Piano Martha Argerich, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer |
Author: Bryce Morrison
Here is a record to set the music world on fire, ablaze with the sort of pianistic panache and poetic empathy from which legends are made. However, those of a nervous disposition and with a bias towards serenity, should be warned that such fire is of an aptly sinister and engulfing nature. After all, Dukas’s L’apprenti sorcier and Ravel’s La valse both inhabit worlds of exuberant nightmare, and although one can marvel at the concentrated wit and verve of Argerich and Rabinovitch, it is their uncanny evocation of unsettled states where all equilibrium is lost and the “ceremony of innocence” is well and truly drowned. Such vividness brings parts of La valse to a near standstill before accelerating away and achieving an effect not unlike suddenly applied centrifugal force. The opening quivers with unease, the commencement of a vision where even the most opulent Viennese gaiety and extravagance is menacingly clouded and distorted. The Dukas (arranged by Rabinovitch), too, develops from sinister hints to a situation diabolically out of control yet one sustained by both players with an iron grip all the more remarkable when you consider the immense virtuoso resources involved. Otto Singer’s skilful version of Strauss’s autobiographical Symphonia domestica hardly transcends its orchestral origin yet it is illuminated at every point – whether in rhetorical uproar or flickering, very Lisztian half-lights (the conclusion of the Adagio: Langsam) – by playing of an overwhelming brio and crystalline clarity.
The recordings are close but unconfined, capturing with fine fidelity the dazzling impact of these performances. And so I can only say in conclusion that while I lament Martha Argerich’s continued absence from the platform as a soloist in her own right, I can also rejoice in partnerships which clearly offer her such relish and fulfilment. If anything her blow-torch incandescence has increased rather than diminished over the years.'
The recordings are close but unconfined, capturing with fine fidelity the dazzling impact of these performances. And so I can only say in conclusion that while I lament Martha Argerich’s continued absence from the platform as a soloist in her own right, I can also rejoice in partnerships which clearly offer her such relish and fulfilment. If anything her blow-torch incandescence has increased rather than diminished over the years.'
Strauss/Ravel/Dukas Piano Works
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