Variations for two pianos
Mozart, Brahms, Saint-Saens, Reger
Dale Bartlett and Jean Marchand, pianos- CBC 1151-70:17
The art of playing two pianos is so exacting that even among professional duos it is rare to find performers who are able to attain excellence both on the level of technique and of interpretation. Occasional duos must contend with the bringing together of two personalities which seldom form a united whole. I have heard Jean Marchand play in a duo with pianist Lise Boucher, but his association with Dale Bartlett on this recording is new for me. These interpretations offer no surprises but have the merit of being sustained by a lively rhythmic beat and expressing an undisguised joie de vivre and good-naturedness. In Saint-Saens’s Variations on a theme by Beethoven, the Canadian duo express with obvious pleasure the humorous little winks and nudges in the music. Their complicity in this piece brooks comparison with the duo Christian Ivaldi-Noel Lee who recorded it for Arion in 1985. Reger’s Variations and Fugue on a theme by Mozart benefit from the same liveliness.
However, Bartlett and Marchand’s duo is not always a cohesive unit: they play at the same time, but they do not play together. Brahms’s Variations on a theme by Haydn are not breathed in unison. The two pianos hail each other from a distance, reciting faded versions of well-known tales. Despite a sharp sense of tempo, the touch seems monochromatic and lifeless. One thinks of the advice given by Dinu Lipatti to his students at the Conservatory of Geneva: "Here it must sound like a clarinet, there like a bassoon…"
Mozart’s Andante with variations K501 is cast in the same mould, though with the distinct advantage of being played on two pianos and not four-hands as in most contemporary recordings. We have known for some time that Mozart intended this piece for two pianos; it was his editor who changed the title, knowing there would be more sales of music labeled, "for piano duet". In its original version, this piece attains an unsuspected fullness. Infused with an airy breath, it becomes ethereal. Piano duos, take note!
VILLEMIN
Published in American Record Guide, Vol. 66, N. 1