In Search of Lost Time
Rodion Shchedrin (1932-2025)
Romantic Duets (2007)
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Concerto for Two Pianos (1935)
Sergei Taneyev (1856-1915)
Prelude and Fugue in G-sharp minor, Op. 29 (1910)
Ekaterina Zhemaitis, Polina Kulikova (piano)
rec. 2025, Mendelssohn-Saal, Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, Germany
Genuin GEN26969 [45]

I love a good piano duo recording, and so I didn’t need much prompting when it came to reviewing this album. We are in very safe hands with Ekaterina Zhemaitis and Polina Kulikova, whose duo has won the First Prize and five special prizes at the sixth International Piano Duo Competition in Białystok, Poland, and the First prize at the fifth Taneyev International Chamber Music Competition in Kaluga, Russia.

This programme is described as a “journey through the dialogue between memory and invention”, and this is indeed something of a reverse journey through time and an exploration of works that blend innovation and tradition. One of the main attractions is the world premiere recording of Rodion Shchedrin’s Romantic Duets, which is a set of seven compact pieces or movements that stand “as a remarkable testament to his mature style, blending virtuosity, wit, and profound engagement with musical history.” Fragments or quotes from the likes of Schubert and Schumann pop out here and there, but Shchedrin’s eclecticism is always filtered through his own inventive brilliance, alongside the musical tradition laid down by Russian forbears such as Shostakovich and Stravinsky. Where there is playfulness there is also a grim, wry air of sardonic detachment, and where the ‘Romantic’ element steps to the fore, such as in the opening Andante cantabile and the penultimate Andante recitando, the lyricism is landscape rather than vocal. One of Rodion Shchedrin’s admirable qualities is that he never seems to take himself too seriously while delivering music at the highest level of excellence. With its often restrained virtuosity and wide expressive palette, this is a highly approachable and enjoyable work that I’m sure we will hear performed and recorded again in the future.     

While less frequently recorded than his other works Igor Stravinsky’s Concerto for Two Pianos is the best-known piece here, and one of his finest mid-1930s neoclassical masterpieces, the composer himself considering it to be “perhaps my favourite among purely instrumental works.” Zhemaitis and Kulikova deliver a scintillating performance, with both high-octane energy and a superlative clarity of touch. As a listener you feel that sense of architecture built into the music, and that sense of Beethoven’s irritable ghost sitting on Stravinsky’s shoulders. By way of comparison with the Concerto for 2 pianos I had a listen to Marc-André Hamelin and Leif Ove Andsnes on their excellent all-Stravinsky Hyperion album (review). The sound is a bit richer and more impactful here and this duo is hard to beat, but Zhemaitis and Kulikova can stand their own against even this competition, and in the context of this programme I defy anyone to be disappointed in their magnificent playing.        

Sergei Taneyev was a composer at the centre of Russian musical life, and a significant figure at the Moscow Conservatoire where his pupils included the likes of Scriabin, Medtner, and Rachmaninov. The deceptively titled Prelude and Fugue in G-Sharp Minor, Op. 29 was surprisingly Taneyev’s only major piano work, combining an impressionistic atmosphere in its enigmatic and translucent Prelude, with a Fugue which holds nothing back in its lively impetuousness. Beyond its foundational compositional techniques this is a piece about as far away from Bach as you could imagine, and it certainly delivers a spectacular conclusion to this album.  

This recording has our musicians in that big empty Mendelssohn-Saal and there is plenty of resonance to go along with a satisfying depth and detail in the piano sound. Knowing what goes into making a recording like this I won’t be commenting on the playing time, though it might have been nice to have had maybe just one more piece – there are oceans of neglected repertoire and world premieres to choose from. Either way this is a programme that amounts to more than the sum of its parts, with a sense of monumental input from each composer, and recording and performance quality to match.     

Dominy Clements

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