Bohuslav Martinů - Piano Music Vol. 2 (Giorgio Koukl)

Information

Composer: Bohuslav Martinů

• Puppets, Book III, H. 92
• Puppets, Book II, H. 116
• Puppets, Book I, H. 137
• Film en miniature, H. 148
• Spring in the Garden, H. 125
• Butterflies and Birds of Paradise, H. 127
• The Fifth Day of the Fifth Moon, H. 318
• Les bouquinistes du Quai Malaquais, H. 319

Giorgio Koukl, piano

Date: 2007

Label: Naxos

-----------------------------------------------------------

Review

Volume 2 of pianist Giorgio Koukl’s complete Martinu cycle begins with the three books of Puppets, composed between 1912 and 1924. These charming miniatures aim to depict the commedia dell’arte stock characters, who strut their stuff to caricatured dances that range from salon waltzes to roaring-’20s jazz. Popular song and dance assertively inform the six pieces comprising Film en miniature, and might best be described as the missing link between Prokofiev and Poulenc. The same might be said about Les bouquinistes du Quai Malaquais, although its stark unison octave phrases and passages utilizing register extremes bear Martinu’s individual stamp.

The four-movement Butterflies and Birds of Paradise represents Martinu’s most tuneful, accessible style, while the composer’s own brand of impressionism informs both Fifth Day of the Fifth Moon (a haunting work cast in pentatonic pastels) and Spring in the Garden’s concluding piece.

As with Volume 1, there’s plenty to admire in Koukl’s technically solid and stylistically perceptive performances. In pieces that rely on rhythmic propulsion, Koukl tailors his tempos as if he were playing for dancers as opposed to piano competition jurors. He also plays more lyrical, introspective selections well, although I marginally prefer Emil Leichner’s more delicately shaded and articulated way with The Shy Puppet and the Sick Puppet (Supraphon). Similarly, Leichner’s gracious and intimate traversal of The Sentimental Puppet’s Waltz markedly contrasts to Koukl’s brisker (and decidedly unsentimental) approach. Yet on the whole, Koukl’s overall artistry and wider color palette, helped by Naxos’ superior engineering, take top honors.

— Jed Distler

-----------------------------------------------------------

Bohuslav Martinů (December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He was a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and briefly studied under Czech composer and violinist Josef Suk. Martinů was a prolific composer who wrote almost 400 pieces. Many of his works are regularly performed or recorded, among them his oratorio The Epic of Gilgamesh, his six symphonies, concertos, chamber music, a flute sonata, a clarinet sonatina and many others. Martinů's notable students include Alan Hovhaness, Vítězslava Kaprálová, Jan Novák and many others.

***

Giorgio Koukl (born 1953 in Prague) is a pianist and composer. He studied in Prague, Zürich and Milan; among his teachers was Rudolf Firkušný, who introduced him to the works Bohuslav Martinů. Koukl became a leading interpreter of Martinů's piano music, recording his complete piano solo works and concertos. He later expanded his repertoire to include piano works by composers like Le Flem, Tcherepnin, Lourié, Kaprálová, Lutosławski, Tansman and Harsányi. Performing internationally across Europe, North America and Asia, Koukl records exclusively for Naxos and appears frequently in solo and chamber concerts.

-----------------------------------------------------------