Bartók; Debussy; Mozart - Works for 2 Pianos (Martha Argerich; Stephen Kovacevich)

Information

Composer: Béla Bartók; Claude Debussy; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

• Bartók - Sonata for two Pianos and Percussion, BB 115 (Sz 110)
• Mozart - Andante with five variations in G major for piano duet, K 501
• Debussy - En blanc et noir
• Bartók - Out of Doors, BB 99 (Sz 81)
• Bartók - Sonatina

Martha Argerich & Stephen Kovacevich, piano

Willy Goudswaard & Michael de Roo, percussion

Date: 1977; 1969

Label: Decca

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Review

This CD is of material that first came out on the Philips label and was then reissued in the Decca Originals series. The record of the works for two pianos was issued separately and became an instant classic. Kovacevich’s recordings of the solo works are from eight years earlier when the pianist was in his late twenties. While all of these are worthy, the account of the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion alone would make this an indispensable disc. For many this performance has never been bettered.

The Sonata is one of Bartók’s seminal works, though not as popular for some reason as the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta composed the year before the Sonata. It has much in common with that work and at the same time looks forward to the humor of the Divertimento for Strings of 1939. The composer adapted the Sonata as a Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in 1940, but that version only dilutes the power of the original. Argerich, Kovacevich and their percussionists project all the power, mystery and humor in the music in a superb performance and in stunning sound that impresses as much as any recording today.

The other Bartók pieces, performed by Kovacevich, conclude the disc. The Out of Doors suite is from the composer’s “wild and wooly” period of the 1920s. Kovacevich clearly has the measure of this music, even if he does not displace Max Levinson’s much wilder performance from 1997 (on N2K-10028) in my affections. Kovacevich concentrates more on structure and less on the moods of the various numbers in the suite than Levinson. He is especially good in the quiet sections, such as the Night’s Music (No. 4). The early Sonatina is one of Bartók’s folk-inspired creations that could serve as an encore for the disc as a whole. This is the same music that Bartók orchestrated in 1931 and called Dances of Transylvania - performed brilliantly by Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra on Philips 454 430-2. While the piano original is very enjoyable, the orchestral one is that much more colorful. Kovacevich’s performance of the original sparkles.

The other major attraction on this CD is Debussy’s four-hand work, En blanc et noir. Like his other late chamber masterpieces, the sonatas for violin, cello, and flute, viola, and harp, En blanc et noir is more modern and abstract than Debussy’s earlier, more Impressionist works. As with the Bartók Sonata, it receives a terrific performance from Argerich and Kovacevich. The final piece comes between the Sonata and the Debussy suite and acts more or less as a palate cleanser: Mozart’s Andante with variations, which in spite of its short duration, is deceptive in its apparent simplicity. It brings out the composer’s genius just as effectively as some of his longer, more substantial works. Again the piano duo fully conveys the delights and the subtleties of this Mozart miracle. Here, as throughout the disc, the piano sound captured is clear and warm — in a word, wonderful.

In every way, then, this is a disc not to be missed. The production values are more than adequate. David Gutman’s notes focus on the present artists’ performances and recordings of the works and even include quotes from previous reviews. There is one inconsistency, however, concerning Stephen Kovacevich’s name. On the booklet front-cover it is listed as Stephen Bishop Kovacevich, the name he used after being first known as simply Stephen Bishop. In the booklet itself and elsewhere, it is just Stephen Kovacevich, as he prefers it now.

— Leslie Wright

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Béla Bartók (25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist who is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century. As an ethnomusicologist, his fieldwork with the composer Zoltán Kodály formed the basis for all later research in the field. Bartók employed folk themes and rhythms into his own music, achieving a style that was nationalistic and deeply personal. His notable works include the opera Bluebeard's Castle (1911), 6 string quartets (1908–39), the Mikrokosmos piano set, Concerto for Orchestra (1943), and 3 piano concertos (1926, 1931 & 1945).

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Claude Debussy (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer who was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His orchestral works include Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894), Nocturnes (1897–1899), Images (1905–1912), and La mer (1903–1905). His piano works include sets of 24 Préludes and 12 Études. Throughout his career Debussy also wrote mélodies based on a wide variety of poetry, including his own. His works have strongly influenced a wide range of composers including Béla Bartók, Olivier Messiaen, George Benjamin, and the jazz musician Bill Evans.

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was an Austrian composer, widely recognized as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western classical music. With Haydn and Beethoven he brought the Viennese Classical school to its height. Despite his short life, Mozart composed more than 800 works in almost every classical music genre of his time. Many of his compositions are acknowledged as pinnacles of the repertoires, including his symphonies, concertos and sonatas for various instruments, chamber music, the Requiem in D minor, the operas Die Zauberflöte and Don Giovanni.

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Martha Argerich (born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine pianist. She studied with Friedrich Gulda, Stefan Askenase, Maria Curcio, and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, among others. Argerich gained international prominence when she won the VII International Chopin Piano Competition in 1965. She made her first commercial recording in 1960 and has since recorded works by composers including Ginastera, Rachmaninoff and Schumann. Her aversion to the press and publicity has resulted in her remaining out of the limelight for most of her career. Nevertheless, she is widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists in history.

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Stephen Kovacevich (born October 17, 1940) is an American pianist and conductor. Born in Los Angeles, California, he moved to London in 1958 to study with Myra Hess and had been living in the UK ever since. Kovacevich made his British debut at Wigmore Hall in 1961, and gave his first concert in New York in 1967. Since then he has toured Europe, the United States, the Far East, Australia, New Zealand and South America, performing as a soloist, conductor, and chamber musician. Aside from his performing career, Kovacevich has given master classes and recitals at Dartington International Summer School for many years

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