Théodore Gouvy - Sonatas for Piano Four Hands (Emile Naoumoff; Yau Cheng)

Information

Composer: Théodore Gouvy

• Sonata in D minor, Op. 36
• Sonata in C minor, Op. 49
• Sonata in F major, Op. 51

Emile Naoumoff & Yau Cheng, piano 4-hands

Date: 2014

Label: Grand Piano

https://grandpianorecords.com/Album/AlbumDetails/GP676

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Review

Louis Théodore Gouvy (1819-1898) may have patterned his conservative Romantic style after Schumann and Mendelssohn (with a little Schubert tossed into the mix), yet he was no mere imitator but a vital and inventive creative personality in his own right. My colleague David Hurwitz enthusiastically reviewed CPO’s recordings of Gouvy’s symphonies, while two brand new 2014 releases respectively devoted to the composer’s three wonderful piano duet sonatas whetted my anticipation.

Compared alongside the Tal & Groethuysen Duo’s 1992 world-premiere Sony recordings, the Naoumoff & Cheng duo mostly favors slower tempos and opts for all first-movement exposition repeats, whereas Tal & Groethuysen observe just the First Sonata repeat. If Naoumoff & Cheng tread heavily through this work’s third-movement Intermezzo in contrast to Tal & Groethuysen’s brighter, suppler chord attacks, they imbue the second-movement Adagio with a wider range of inflections.

Parallel observations apply to the Second Sonata’s second and third movements. Tal & Groethuysen’s crisp and sprightly romp through the Third Sonata’s first movement evokes a Mendelssohn miniature, while Naoumoff & Cheng’s heftier reading suggests a Schumann symphonic allegro, if not Gouvy’s Allegro con brio tempo marking. On the other hand, few signs of life emerge from Naoumoff & Cheng’s slower, heavier, and square-toed readings of the Andantino scherzoso and Allegro risoluto.

I won’t dissuade you from sampling, streaming, or downloading some or all of the Naoumoff & Cheng release, should you wish to get a sense of Gouvy’s sonatas. However, the superior Tal & Groethuysen disc is not hard to locate from online sellers, and also includes five adorable, brilliantly played Gouvy four-hand miniatures. In short, Naoumoff & Cheng are not bad, but not great; perhaps the last word should be left to my British colleague who described one’s workmanlike conducting as “goodish”.

-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday

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Théodore Gouvy (3 July 1819 – 21 April 1898) was a French/German composer. He studied music mostly in private courses in Paris and Berlin. Drawn toward instrumental music rather than opera, Gouvy chose to live the last third of his life almost entirely in Germany where he felt more appreciated. He wrote twenty-four compositions for full orchestra, including nine symphonies, as well as overtures and variations. Chamber music also comprises a large portion of Gouvy's work, as well as many melodies, lieder and five dramatic cantatas. During his lifetime, his compositions were held in high regard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Théodore_Gouvy

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Émile Naoumoff (born 20 February 1962 in Sofia) is a Bulgarian pianist and composer. He was the last disciple of Nadia Boulanger and studied with her until her death in late 1979. He also pursued studies at the Paris Conservatory with Lélia Gousseau, Pierre Sancan, Geneviève Joy-Dutilleux, as well as at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris with Pierre Dervaux (conducting). As a piano virtuoso, Naoumoff is regularly invited by the world's premier orchestras, and has collaborated closely with renowned conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Igor Markevitch, Leonard Slatkin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Eliahu Inbal and others.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Naoumoff

https://www.emilenaoumoff.com/

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Hong Kong-born British pianist Yau Cheng is an experienced collaborative pianist. Yau earned both her Master and Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (USA), she then pursued her studies at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, gaining a Master of Music in Piano Accompaniment with distinction. In demand as a collaborative pianist and vocal coach, she is now a staff accompanist at the Guildhall School and works with the Intermediate Choir of Finchley Children's Music Group. Apart from performing, Yau is a professional music engraver and editor.

https://www.yaucheng.com/

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