Busoni: Music for Two Pianos
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CD Details
Composer: Ferruccio BusoniPerformer: Allan Schiller
Performer: John Humphreys
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2005-12-13
Music Label: Naxos
Soundtracks:
- Fantasia Contrappuntistica
- Improvisation On The beach Chorale 'Wie Wohl Ist Mir, O Freund Der Seele'
- Fantasie Fur Eine Orgelwalze
- Duettino Concertante Nach Mozart
Music reviews of Busoni: Music for Two Pianos
Music Review: "A disproportionate task for ten fingers"
Rating: 5 Stars
Naxos' thorough survey of Ferruccio Busoni's (1866-1924) solo piano music (Busoni: Piano Music, Vol. 1) has so far reached three volumes. I hold all of them in high esteem and I believe Naxos showcases a remarkable champion of Busoni with the pianist Wolf Harden. In addition to the on-going solo piano music series, Naxos has also released two issues of Busoni's chamber music; very rare and exquisite stuff: Busoni: Complete Works for Cello and Piano and Busoni: Violin Sonatas; Four Bagatelles. It's not surprising, then, that Naxos has seen fit to promulgate Busoni's original works for Two Pianos.
Those new to Busoni may want to explore Naxos' solo piano music volumes first. I wouldn't call this specific recording supplementary, but I appreciated it far more after examining Busoni's solo piano music. Most will agree that the "Fantasia Contrappuntistica" is Busoni's most soaring and striking composition. Based on an unfinished fugue subject from Bach's "Art of Fugue" and the chorale, "Allein Gott in der Hoeh sei Ehr," Busoni creates a dizzying, magnificent and totally arresting behemoth of music. I am acquainted with John Ogdon's and Wolf Harden's interpretations, and although I cannot say Schiller and Humphreys surpass them in any respects, this two-piano performance still amplifies the expression behind Busoni's cerebral ideas. Busoni thought his Fantasia was "a disproportionate task for ten fingers, whereas divided between twenty it would be easy and transparent for player and listener alike." But the ten fingers of Schiller and Humphreys accomplish the task with virtuous results. Not only is the spirit and nobility behind this gargantuan work fully realized, but two pianos really enhance and clarify the layers of polyphony.
As the reviewer Scott Morrison keenly points out, Busoni had in mind to arrange the four pieces on this recording into one gigantic work. Thus it is strange that the track numbers were not aligned to correspond with the movement-scheme according to Busoni's suggestion. Nevertheless, the piece that could constitute Busoni's "first movement," the beautiful and august "Improvisations on Bach's Chorale," is played with convincing sonority on two pianos. The piano duo sounds completely engrossed in the music, too: besides immaculate precision in all the counterpoint, Schiller and Humphreys emphasize the Romantic side of this music with majestic swells in dynamics and a supple tempo. The other two pieces which could be considered the "middle" movements of Busoni's epic version, are both essentially transcriptions of original music from Mozart. Dr. Kenneth Hamilton, the liner-notes writer, calls Mozart's Fantasy for a Barrel-Organ K. 608 "surprisingly stern and weighty." And Busoni's robust arrangement for two pianos adds to the "weight" of Mozart's music. Busoni certainly maintains all of Mozart's charm, but also manages to subtly convey his own touches as well. I won't say a lot about the Duettino Concertante, which is really a piano transcription of the Finale from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 19. Without a doubt the movement exemplifies a brilliant and lovable Mozart. Allan Schiller is renowned "as one of the finest Mozartians of his generation," so one can expect an artful and suave execution.
Bottom line: Busoni novices and completists alike can find musical ambrosia here. I would recommend that beginners to Busoni's music explore the solo piano music first, especially Wolf Harden's performance of the "Fantasia Contrappuntistica." The strengths of the other three compositions on this disc are unquestionable, though. Conclusively, the continuous expertise and musicality in the interpretations by Schiller and Humphreys heighten the quality of this already splendid music experience.
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