Darius Milhaud - Music for two pianists (Stephen Coombs; Artur Pizarro)

Information

Composer: Darius Milhaud

• Scaramouche, Op. 165b
• Kentuckiana, Op. 287
• La Bal Martiniquais, Op. 249
• Les Songes, Op. 237
• Carnaval à la Nouvelle-Orléans, Op. 275
• La Libertadora, Op. 236A
• Le Bœuf sur le Toit, Op. 58a

Stephen Coombs & Artur Pizarro, pianos

Date: 1998

Label: Hyperion

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Review

If you like two-piano music, you’ll love this disc. Even if you have no special affinity for the medium, you’ll probably still love it. There is simply so much to enjoy. Imaginatively deployed, four hands, whether at one piano or at two, enable an expanded range and complexity of accompanying figures, and a subtlety of counterpoint and melodic voicing. In good hands, and with a partnership of mutual understanding, the possibilities for quasi-orchestral layering of sound allow a variety of colour and melodic highlighting.

Milhaud was an inveterate traveller, and he absorbed influences from many national styles, illustrated by titles such as Kentuckiana, Le bal martiniquais and “Brazileira” (from Scaramouche). The music exudes infectious dance impulses, languid geniality, knockabout humour and sheer joie de vivre. It may inhabit a limited expressive sphere, but providing you don’t expect introspection or searching profundity you won’t be disappointed. There is enjoyment at every turn, whether in the foot-tapping “Brazileira”, the Satie-esque simplicity of the “Valse” from Les songes, or the breezy music-hall atmosphere of Le boeuf sur le toit, with its forays into polytonality and its wonderfully imaginative piano writing.

The performances are exemplary. Stephen Coombs and Artur Pizarro both enjoy the byways of the piano repertory, and, even if Pizarro is the more starry soloist, they are well matched as a duo. Coombs’s top part is suitably bright and sharply lit, and is offset by Pizarro’s more subtle colouring. They clearly revel in the protracted playfulness of Le boeuf sur le toit (the only work here for piano duet, incidentally, although there is if anything a greater wealth of inner detail than in the two-piano works), where their feeling for Hispanic exoticism is matched by their brilliant virtuosity. Indeed, their spirits remain undimmed throughout. The recorded sound is excellent, as are Robert Matthew-Walker’s accompanying notes. In short, piano discs as uninhibited and infectious as this are few and far between.

-- Tim Parry

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Darius Milhaud (4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor and teacher. Born in Marseille, he studied under Paul Dukas and Vincent d'Indy at the Paris Conservatory, and was a member of Les Six. A prolific composer, Milhaud wrote more than 400 works, including radio and motion-picture scores, a setting of the Jewish Sabbath Morning Service, 13 symphonies, choral works, the two-piano suite Scaramouche, 18 string quartets and other chamber works. His students include Burt Bacharach, Dave Brubeck, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis, among others

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Stephen Coombs (born 11 July 1960 in Birkenhead) is a British pianist. He achieved early success, gaining 2nd place at the National Piano Concerto Competition at age 13 and a Gold Medal at the International Liszt Piano Competition in Sopron, Hungary when he was 16. Coombs studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, then at the Royal Academy of Music with Gordon Green. He began recording for Hyperion in 1989. His recordings include the complete solo piano music of Glazunov and other discs of Russian solo piano repertoire (Scriabin, Arensky, Liadov, Bortkiewicz), as well as for Hyperion's Romantic Piano Concerto series.

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Artur Pizarro (born 1968 in Lisbon) is an internationally-acclaimed Portuguese concert pianist. He studied with Sequeira Costa in Lisbon and at the University of Kansas. His other teachers include Aldo Ciccolini, Géry Moutier and Bruno Rigutto at the Conservatoire de Paris. Pizarro won first prize in several international piano competitions, and has performed internationally in solo recitals, in duos, with chamber music groups, and as a soloist with the world's leading orchestras. He has an extensive discography available on Linn Records, as well as on Naxos, Hyperion, Collins Classics, and other labels.

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