Schumann: Pictures from the East

Also, Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann; Dvořák: From the Bohemian Forest (Versions for Piano Four-Hands). Geister Duo. Mirare MIR610.

By Bill Heck

I’ve written in earlier reviews that it’s always a pleasure to find good recordings of lesser-known works, the ones – to use the cliché – off the beaten path. It’s not that any of us tire of listening to masterpieces by Bach, Beethoven, or Brahms, but some variety adds spice to life, right? If piano music for four hands can be called “spicy”, this recording fits right in.

Back in July of 2021, I reviewed a disk of piano works for four hands by Christophe Sirodeau and Anna Zassimova playing Dvorak’s Legends and From the Bohemian Forest. That review gave some background on the four-hand genre; I can wait while you check it out at https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2021/07/dvorak-legends-from-bohemian-forest-cd.html.

Ah, you’re back. The disk now in review overlaps the Sirodeau/Zassimova one with Dvorak’s Forest collection, omitting the Legends but adding works by Schumann and Brahms.
You needn’t worry, though; we’re unlikely to be overrun by piano four-hand performances anytime soon, and that’s kind of a shame because the four-hand repertoire is a rich one. It’s true that some of the literature consists of works originally written for orchestra or chamber ensembles and then redone by their composers in four-hand arrangements mainly – yes, we must admit it – to make a buck (or a thaler, lira, or franc). But that certainly is not true of the entire genre; often enough, it went in the other direction, especially with Dvorak. Regardless of what came first, sometimes the four-hand arrangements give different and interesting perspectives, or occasionally just downright sound better than the originals. In some cases, the four-hand versions are the only versions, as is the case with the works presented here.

On the current disk, the first work is Op. 66, Oriental Pictures or Pictures from the East (Bilder aus Osten) by Robert Schumann, which he described as six impromptus for four hands. Legend has it that the work was inspired by an Arabic poem, even though nothing here sounds very “oriental” at all. Be that as it may, the series was completed in 1848, the same year in which the far better-known Album for the Young was published as Op.68. This was a productive period for Schumann, and the work contains some very listenable music indeed. As usual, formal structure is not Schumann’s strongest suit, but there are imaginative episodes that are quite worth hearing, with moods shifting kaleidoscopically across and within the episodes.

The second work is Brahms’s Op. 23, Variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann (not to be confused with Op. 9, his work of the same title for solo piano). I won’t attempt to describe the deep and complicated relationships between Robert Schumann, Robert’s wife Clara, and Brahms; suffice it to say that Brahms was fond of and deeply indebted to both of the Schumanns, and this work was written around 1861 as a tribute to Robert after the latter’s death in 1856. Thus, the Variations allude to both the love and the sadness that Brahms felt; moreover, several themes and motives within the work either are quotations from Robert’s work or musical “codes” that refer to Robert or Clara. Fortunately, we all can appreciate the music without knowing the inner details. (If you are not familiar with the Schumann/Brahms story, it’s a fascinating topic. You can find summaries on the web or, for a deep dive on Brahms, check out Jan Swafford’s biography of Brahms.)

The third work on the disk, Dvorak’s Op. 68, From the Bohemian Forest, is perhaps the most distinctive in this collection. A series of Czech-inspired “scenes”, it begins with a rousing work that immediately calls to mind some of the composer’s better known Slavonic Dances: the same sorts of uniquely Czech rhythms incorporated in that country’s folk music of the time. This is not to say that the works are derivative; they stand wonderfully on their own and can be heard as a mix of “peasant scenes” or descriptions of nature (thus the “forest” in the title). Although varied in tempo and mood, the pieces are generally happy and full of life, making for enjoyable listening – and as I write this on a very cold day in January, these works strike me as just the thing not only to warm the spirit but also to stir the blood and warm the body!

Finally, this disk has one other thing going for it: really excellent sound. The recording is fairly close and on the dry side, meaning it does not capture a lot of room reverberation, which is perfect for allowing us to hear all those notes – there are four hands at work, after all. But by close, I don’t mean that it sounds as though the microphones were stuck inside the piano; the sound is rich and never fatiguing, with a real sense of presence in the room.

I see that I’ve not said much so far about the playing, so I’ll summarize: it’s very good. David Salmon and Manuel Vieillard, the two pianists who make up the Geister Duo, have worked together as a duo for about 10 years and it shows, with excellent and nuanced balance throughout between the two players. Searching for comparisons across other recordings was a challenge simply because I found no disks with exactly the same content. But in several comparisons of individual works, the quality of this disk was clear. For instance, in the Brahms Variations, the Geister Duo presents a more dynamic and nuanced view of the work (although, alas, all in one track on the CD rather than with the variations on separate tracks) than do Karsenti and Benzakoun, who sometimes seemed rushed and are further handicapped by rather clangorous sound. I’ve already mentioned Sirodeau and Zassimova in the Dvorak Bohemian Forest: here the call is tougher, with both versions offering excellent performances, but certainly the Duo holds its own. In the Schumann Oriental work, Martha Fischer and Bill Lutes offer solid performances as part of a 2-disk set of all of Schumann’s four-hand compositions, but I find the Geister Duo’s quicker tempi a bit more exciting.

If you would like to explore the world of four-hand piano works, this disk provides an excellent introduction. If you already are familiar with this literature, this set would be a worthy addition to your collection. By the way, the sample below is from the Dvorak Bohemian Forest set.

BH

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below: