There’s nothing remotely idiomatic about how the Piano Duo Genova & Dimitrov plays Gershwin, Copland, and Bernstein. Rhythms are utterly chiseled in stone, leaving no room for nuance or clarification of syncopated phrasings; chords are articulated with karate-chop precision, while the laser-beam accuracy and ensemble unanimity of rapid passagework results in soulless, joyless perfection. The Bernstein might as well be called “Symphonic Etudes from West Side Story” as the Jets and the Sharks rumble at the Tchaikovsky Competition. Even the Porgy and Bess Fantasy’s ballads have a driven, unyielding air about them that makes me wonder if the pianists actually have heard these numbers sung. Conversely, they linger over the second Gershwin Prelude in direct opposition to the composer’s brisk, unsentimental performance–but so do many other classical pianists. Give credit to this duo’s amazing surface sheen, but you really can’t dance to its music.
