Kapustin: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 6 (CD Review)

by Karl Nehring 

Kapustin: Variations for piano solo and big band, Op.3; Toccata for piano solo and big band, Op.8; Concerto No. 2 for piano and orchestra, Op.14; Nocturne for piano and orchestra, Op. 16; Concert Rhapsody for piano and orchestra, Op.25; Concerto No. 6 for piano and big band, Op.74. Frank Dupree, piano; Dominik Beykirch, conductor. SWR Big Band; SWR Symphonieorchester (Berlin); Jakob Krupp, bass; Meinhard “Obi” Jenne, drumset. Capriccio C5528

A couple of years ago we reviewed a previous Capriccio release that featured the young German pianist Frank Dupree (b. 1991) playing music by the Ukrainian-born, Russian-trained composer and pianist Nikolai Kapustin (1937-2020), a review that you can find here. We noted in that review that Kapustin was an accomplished pianist who was classically trained in both performance and composition, but his real musical passion was jazz. As a result, he poured his energy into composing music that is classical in form but has much the same feel as improvised jazz – not an easy feat. That album, which featured his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 5, impressed us with its integration of jazz style within a classical framework; as a result, we had high hopes for this latest release. This one, though, leans much more toward the jazz end of the spectrum, as you might guess from the compositions that include “big band” rather “orchestra” in their titles. These pieces really do sound like big band music with some extra-virtuosic piano charts – the Toccata in particular really shows off Dupree's nimble fingers!

Even the Concerto No. 2 for piano and orchestra, Op. 14 sounds more like a concerto for big band and orchestra with its scoring for drums and bass in addition to the orchestra, which is arranged to sound much like a brassy big band with some occasional string sweetening. The Nocturne that follows slows things down, backs off on the brass, and comes across something like a theme from a film score. The Concert Rhapsody ups the energy level; it too sounds as though it could be the theme music for a film or television series. The album closes with another composition for piano and big band, Concerto No. 6. This piece is more musically complex than the others on the program (note its higher catalog number – Op. 74 was completed in 1993, long after Op. 25 in 1976). Yes, it still has that big band sound about it, but it is more rhythmically complex and more mature sounding overall than the other works for piano and big band on this release. 

 Dupree has been an enthusiastic advocate of Kapustin’s music, having released a number of recordings of it. His facility – both technical and musical – is beyond reproach, and the engineering is top-notch. The arrangements, however, for both the big band and the orchestra, come across as rather pedestrian, making it hard to give this newest release more than a room temperature recommendation. For those who have not heard Kapustin before, the album we reviewed previously (see link above) would probably be a better starting point.