ストラヴィンスキー: 春の祭典(1台4手ピアノ版)、ほか

即興性に満ち、スリル満点!
斬新な《春の祭典》

シベリア生まれのパヴェル・コレスニコフと、カザフスタン出身のサンソン・ツォイによるピアノ・デュオが《春の祭典》を録音しました!《春の祭典》冒頭から、まるで即興で旋律がひらめいたかのよう。この《春の祭典》はオーケストレーションに先行してピアノ1台4手版が出版されておりますが、まるで作曲者が作曲してゆく過程を追体験しているかのような、即興性とスリリングさに満ちた演奏で、斬新です。難曲ゆえに、作品やリズムと戦うような演奏になってしまいがちですが、この二人の演奏は一味も二味も違います。カップリングの《マ・メール・ロワ》では、幼少の世界に別れを告げる感動的な優しさと、きらきらとした音色が魅力での秀演。目からうろこの2篇です。
HARMONIA MUNDI

With various younger duos contending to replace the giants of the duo piano and four-hands piano, that of Pavel Kolesnikov (here on the upper half) and Samson Tsoy seem well-positioned for prominence. They performed Stravinskys Le Sacre du printemps at an enthusiastically received Carnegie Hall concert, and on this Harmonia Mundi release, they pair it with Ravels Ma mere loye. Both arrangements were written by the works respective composers, but theyre quite different animals. Ravels suite was the original form of the music, later orchestrated, while Stravinskys four-hands piano Rite of Spring was essentially a rehearsal version. No matter. Kolesnikov and Tsoy devote themselves to the Stravinsky so wholeheartedly that they end up with what is really an alternative version of the work. The arrangement has been recorded before, but this pair pushes it in a new direction. They not only seek to capture shades of orchestral color with a piano but also to suggest the scope of the orchestral score through various pianistic extremes. Consider the famed "Dance of the Young Maidens," which is taken at a high speed probably beyond an orchestras capabilities. It sounds as though it might not work, but instead, it will bring, at least for many listeners, some of the shock The Rite of Spring had when it was new. Ma mere loye, as a genuine four-hands work, is less extreme in every way, and the pianists back off and produce a pleasantly lyrical reading. As for the Stravinsky, Kolesnikov and Tsoy write: "Its hard to know when exactly it became for us a version rather than an arrangement, partly because, in these years, we never stopped working on the piece, exploring its abyssal depths." They live up to this little boast, and they are well supported by Harmonia Mundis engineers; the sound, from the Studio Sequenza in Montreuil, France, has a clear and somewhat harsh edge, but this was just what was required, and it brings out the detail in which the pianists have understood this music. The album made classical best-seller charts in the early summer of 2025. ~ James Manheim