Pianos & Orchestra (Naxos) - MusicWeb International

Works for Pianos and Orchestra
Frank Martin (1890-1974)
Petite symphonie concertante (1944-45, arr. for 3 pianos and double string orchestra by Tomer Lev, 2015)
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Concerto for Two Pianos in D minor FP61 (1932)
Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Concertino for Two Pianos Op.94 (1953, arr. for two pianos and string orchestra by Tomer Lev, 2016)
Aryeh Levanon (b.1932)
Land of Four Languages for two pianos eight hands and string orchestra (2012-13)
MultiPiano Ensemble
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Dmitry Yablonsky
rec. 2017, Church of St. Jude on the Hill, London, UK
NAXOS 8.573802 [60]

MultiPiano Ensemble is a flexible group of pianists (five appear on this disc) originally founded in 2011 as the result of a collaboration between Tel Aviv University and the Israel Philharmonic. Of the four works presented here, one is a ‘standard’ work performed in the standard version – the Poulenc Concerto for Two Pianos in D minor, two are given premiere recordings in arrangements made for the group by Artistic Director Tomer Lev – the Martin and the Shostakovich, and finally one work – Aryeh Levanon’s Land of Four Languages receives its world premiere recording. All of the works feature the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the familiar baton of Dmitri Yablonsky. Worth noting immediately that the orchestra play very well with warmth, weight and bite and are excellently recorded in St. Jude on the Hill by the veteran team of producer Andrew Walton and engineer Mike Clements. Likewise the playing of the various pianists is crisp, alert, technically very agile and fluent with excellent coordination between however many are playing in any given piece.

The disc opens with Tomer Lev’s adaptation of Frank Martin’s Petite Symphonie Concertante. The original scoring was for three solo instruments; piano, harpsichord and harp alongside the double string orchestra. Some six years after the original work, Martin revised the score as a purely orchestral work. Tomer Lev quotes Martin in the liner but the explanation for the revision seems practical and pragmatic rather than any musical ‘failing’ in the original. Clearly there could be balance issues in the concert hall but this should not be an issue in a studio environment. Additionally Lev makes the somewhat odd statement that because a “modern” harpsichord is “nowadays almost out of use” it is “tricky” to perform it as originally conceived. For the purposes of comparison I dug out a couple of other recordings I have. One is a Decca twofer of a fairly murky 1951 mono performance by Ernest Ansermet and L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande with Pierre Jamet, Germaine Vaucher-Clerc and Doris Rossiaud playing the harp, harpsichord and piano parts respectively. The other is nine years later and in much better sound from Leopold Stokowski and his orchestra with the solo parts taken by Gloria Agostini, Albert Fuller and Mitchell Andrews. From those older performances a couple of things are very clear; how the standard of orchestral playing has improved(!) but also how, even with the relatively limited quality of the engineering, it works perfectly well handling the three disparate instruments. So the question arises whether this arrangement is necessary except to provide repertoire for these undoubtedly talented players. In the original, Martin is very careful with how he allots and intermingles the musical material. Even given that the engineering on this new disc separates the three piano parts very effectively there is an inevitable degree of sonic overlapping and loss of musical line. I had forgotten just what a fine piece this is though with the neo-baroque elements of the score beautifully handled. One curiosity here – in the central Adagio in the original the harp is simply accompanied by the harpsichord with the former joining the harpischord subsidiary role when the piano takes on the primary material. It has the feel of a change in ‘registration’ and is very effective. For this new three-piano version it sounds as if a harpsichord suddenly appears or at least a prepared piano but there is no mention of how or why this effect is produced in the liner. Lev makes some strong assertions about the work’s closing pages; “one of the most impressive unbroken crescendos in the repertoire”. For sure it is exciting and well performed here but the instrumental colour of the original with sweeping harp glissandi, chattering harpischord and powerful piano is even more impressive. I have nothing but praise for the technical and musical qualities displayed in this new performance, but if you only have room for one Petite Symphonie Concertante in your collection stick with the original instrumentation.

Next on the disc comes another neo-Classical – neo-Mozartian almost – masterpiece. The familiar, and justly well-loved Poulenc Concerto for Two Pianos. This is given a genuinely sparkling performance with no tweaks or alterations. Here is Poulenc is at his most light-hearted almost comedic with a wit and twinkle more reminiscent of Jean Françaix or Jacques Ibert. There are many genuinely brilliant performances of this work but some perhaps are a little too hard-driven or aggressively engineered. Charles Dutoit’s performance as part of his complete survey of Poulenc orchestral music in Montreal has the ever-wonderful Pascal Rogé and Sylviane Deferne as superb soloists but perhaps this is an instance where the plush and glamorous Decca engineering does not wholly suit the rapier wit of the music itself. On this new disc, the acoustic of St. Jude’s is warmly supportive but the music does not wallow. Also, the two players – Tomer Lev and Daniel Borovitsky – follow the significant “non troppo” marking of the opening Allegro no troppo which gives them headroom for a truly Allegro Molto finale. Other players seem to get caught up in the sheer joie de vivre of both outer movements resulting in too much of a headlong dash in the opening movement. The central Larghetto is as Mozartian as anything from the 20^th Century you are likely to hear – even when the orchestra try to interrupt proceedings. Again it is played with unaffected poise and perfect coordination between the players. This is always a joy to hear and so it is here. The finale is likewise excellent here with Yablonsky ensuring that the accompaniment by the RPO is snappingly alert without becoming aggressive.

Next comes another Tomer Lev arrangement. If the Martin left me wondering “why?” this is a genuine gem and something I can imagine having a valid performing life away from the performance here. Shostakovich wrote his Concertino for Two pianos in 1953 as a vehicle for his then sixteen year-old son Maxim. The Piano Concerto No.2 is the more famous “gift” he wrote for him. The concertino is just 9:29 in this performance and plays in one continuous movement. Lev’s real skill in his arrangement here is to have “filleted out” an orchestral accompaniment – with echoes of contemporaneous orchestral works from the Symphony No.10 to the lighter Festival Overture – while leaving enough of substance for the two solo players. The opening ‘heroic’ gesture is given to the strings and sounds authentically Shostakovichian with the ‘replies’ on the piano(s). So much of what follows simply works tremendously well in this format and again is beautifully played and excellently recorded. I can imagine this recording becoming something of a popular hit on radio stations looking for complete works on this relatively modest scale. Certainly, any listeners who enjoy the Shostakovich of the two ‘proper’ piano concerti will find much to appeal here.

The disc concludes with a work for two pianos eight hands and string orchestra by Aryeh Levanon Land of Four Languages. Levanon was born in Romania and emigrated to Israel in 1951. According to the liner he “is one of the most popular composers in Israel, creating on the seam between art music and popular music”. This work was commissioned by MultiPiano and “by using traditional songs from four different communities co-existing in Israel, the music symbolises the hope for peace and harmony in this conflict-torn part of the world.” The piece is brief – the four movements run to a total of 11:00. The melodies have a distinctive Middle Eastern flavour and they are attractively treated. The handling of the material is effective if not exactly sophisticated – the mood is certainly much more middle of the road/light music and in the company of Martin, Poulenc and Shostakovich Levanon is rather dwarved. Likewise the arranging of the melodies for the four players/two pianos is quite simplistic in terms of lead and accompanying material with none of the intricate and fascinating complexities of the other works. Sensibly all the performers do not try to make more of this slight material than it can sustain so it is played with unaffected simplicity and directness. The waltzing lullaby of the third movement Povereta Muchachica has a lilting charm – again a piece I could imagine being quite a hit on easy-listening radio stations. The concluding movement – Debka Rafiah – is based on a Levantine folk-dance. This makes for a relatively energetic conclusion certainly well played and effective if ultimately insubstantial. So while the message behind the music is undoubtedly profound and sincere the piece itself is slight albeit attractively so.

By definition this is a unique programme of music performed with great skill by a pretty unique ensemble. Technically the presentation is very good and I would certainly return to this disc for the Poulenc and Shostakovich. Given that those two works account for just under half the playing time of this reasonably filled disc, I would suggest the curious sample all the music offered here before committing to a complete purchase.

Nick Barnard