This enticing collection for the most part contains very fine performances by the piano duo Quattro Mani. Best of all is the Milhaud Concerto No. 2 for Two Pianos and Percussion, a typically spiky and rhythmically charged essay in the composer’s patented brand of polytonality, full of inventive sonorities. A rarity both on disc and in concert, it would make a welcome change from the usual Bartók sonata. Speaking of which, here we have the composer’s concerto version, also a rarity, and one in which the orchestra contributes absolutely nothing of importance to the proceedings. Interestingly, the small size of the ensemble is a plus, with the strings and winds simply enriching the basic piano plus percussion sonorities. I do wish, though, that the timpani in the finale had more presence and solidity (even though Bartók’s dynamics are correctly observed).
Leading off the program is Poulenc’s marvelous Concerto for Two Pianos, and in this piece the orchestra’s small-sounding string section, with its relative lack of body, really does tell (though there’s nothing wrong with the conducting or ensemble as such), particularly in those luscious melodies in the slow movement and latter half of the finale. Also the playing of both pianists, while elegant and fluid, lacks the nervous edge and “sec” quality that gives Poulenc’s eclectic style its characteristic point. But then, there are several fine versions of this concerto, beginning with the composer’s own, and very few of the Milhaud and Bartók. So for the latter two works particularly, this disc can certainly be recommended.
