Your guide to classical music online

Four-Handed Satie and Stravinsky, Joyful and Uneventful

Jed Distler

Artistic Quality:

Sound Quality:

Stravinsky’s two-piano transcription of his 1928 chamber concerto Dumbarton Oaks is seldom performed, for one simple reason: it’s dull. On the piano, Stravinsky’s colorful instrumental interplay and timbral diversity goes for almost nothing. Just compare the brash contrasts between string and woodwind sonorities in the second movement of the original score to its more neutral keyboard counterpart, and you’ll hear what’s missing.

By contrast, the Concerto for Two Solo Pianos is piano music through and through, and also happens to be one of Stravinsky’s greatest works in any genre. The slightly nasal timbres of the early 20th century instruments used by Alexei Lubimov and Slava Poprugin add an edgy patina to their inspired, carefully balanced pianism. I like the conversational effect that the pianists achieve in the third-movement variations’ slithery runs, while the detached lightness they bring to the fourth-movement introductory prelude’s long, sustained chords is a welcome change from the heavy, monochrome touch I’ve heard from one too many piano duos.

Without vocalists, the ambling qualities of Satie’s Socrate increase tenfold in John Cage’s rather two-dimensional arrangement for two pianos. Ironically, the purposeful repetitions and slapstick aura that prevail throughout Satie’s Cinéma sound even more humorous, brash, and “Satie-like” with certain notes “prepared” à la John Cage, meaning that screws, bolts, washers, rubber erasers, and other such implements are wedged in between certain piano strings. The sonics are slightly overresonant, but the performers’ authority always comes across, especially in the Concerto and Cinéma, the two stand-out selections in this alternately joyful and uneventful program.


Recording Details:

Album Title: Paris joyeux et triste
Reference Recording: Concerto for Two Solo Pianos: Aloys and Alfons Kontarsky (DG)

  • STRAVINSKY, IGOR:
    Dumbarton Oaks; Concerto for Two Solo Pianos
  • SATIE, ERIK:
    Socrate (arr. for two pianos by John Cage); Cinéma (arr. for piano duet by Darius Milhaud)

    Soloists: Alexei Lubimov and Slava Poprugin (pianos)

  • Record Label: Alpha - 230
  • Medium: CD

Search Music Reviews

Search Sponsor

  • Insider Reviews only
  • Click here for Search Tips

Visit Our Merchandise Store

Visit Store
  • An Ozawa Story, November, 1969
    Much has justifiably been written regarding Seiji Ozawa’s extraordinary abilities and achievements as a conductor, and similarly about his generosity, graciousness, and sense of humor
  • Arvo Pärt’s Passio At St. John The Divine
    Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York, NY; January 26, 2024—When one thinks of musical settings of Christ’s Passion, one normally thinks of the
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra Makes Major Announcements
    Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts; January 25, 2024—The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) makes three major new announcements today. Andris Nelsons, who is currently in his tenth