Customer Reviews

America for Two

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One of the best recordings I've ever heard. The two pianists are incredible. The Percy Granger arrangement of Porgy & Bess rarely heard and beautiful. El Salon Mexico is mind blowing. Buy this CD!

This CD has rarely left my player since I opened it several days ago. I thought I knew what to expect from Piano Duo Genova & Dimitrov because I had previously acquired their CD of French two-piano concerti (Milhaud, Poulenc, Casadesus) and had written a glowing review of it here, but I was simply bowled over by the verve, rhythmic snap, contrapuntal clarity and articulation of this release. If anything it is even more pleasing than its predecessor. Bravo!

All the music presented here -- with the one exception of Copland's 'Danzón Cubano' written for piano duo -- was arranged for two pianos from other sources. And all those arrangements -- again with one exception, that of Gershwin's three 'Piano Preludes' -- are marvelous. Needless to say, all of the works are given sterling performances here by this Bulgarian (by way of Hanover, Germany) duo. The problem with Gregory Stone's arrangements of the Gershwin Preludes, originally for single piano, is that he cannot resist adding some unnecessary pianistic fripperies to Gershwin's quite sufficient scores. One understands his need to add more, having twenty fingers at his disposal, but one doesn't understand why he felt the necessity to make the arrangement in the first place. (That said, I will admit that in the Third Prelude his insertion of a lightning-fast concluding run in parallel tritones is electrifying.) Genova and Dimitrov play them beautifully. All the other arrangements are from orchestral scores and the presence of two virtuoso pianists to present their complexities makes sense.

Stone's arrangement of Gershwin's 'Cuban Overture' is fine, and even better is Percy Grainger's 18-minute 'Porgy and Bess Fantasy.' Copland's 'El Salón Mexico' is presented in its piano duo arrangement by Leonard Bernstein, who also made a one-piano version at the request of Copland, his close friend. Finally, Bernstein's 'Symphonic Dances' from 'West Side Story', a work frequently on pops concerts the world over, has been fashioned into a marvelous two-piano version by the distinguished American composer and pianist, John Musto. Piano Duo Genova & Dimitrov play their hearts out on the disc, clearly understanding the rhythmic and harmonic nuances of these American masterpieces as few Europeans do.

The booklet notes by Edward van den Hoogen are unusually informative.

This is an outstanding release and is strongly recommended.

TT=69'

Scott Morrison