Martha Argerich - Mikhail Pletnev - Sergei Prokofiev : Cinderella Suite - Maurice Ravel : Ma mere l'Oye - SuperAudioCD - 2004.

Martha Argerich - Mikhail Pletnev

Sergei Prokofiev : Cinderella Suite

Maurice Ravel : Ma mere l'Oye
 

Grammy Awards 2005 : Best Chamber Music Performance
 

Gramophone Magazine : Awards issue 2005

Two masters of the keyboard caught enjoying themselves in music of colour and variety. The main attraction is a delectable surprise: Pletnev's arrangement for two pianos of music from Prokofiev's Cinderella is tremendous, not surprsing given Pletnev the conductor's mastery of the orchestral score. The Ravel is sheer joy from start to finish with some exquisite textures and real magic from its pianists. The sound is exemplary - you can close your eyes and imagine exactly where the two instruments are positioned.

Serge Prokofiev : Cinderella : Suite from the Ballet op.87
Transcibed for 2 Pianos by Mikhail Pletnev

(Mikhaill Pletnev's arrangement of Prokofiev Cinderella written for and dedicated to Martha Argerich)

Maurice Ravel : Ma Mere l'Oye

Cinderella:

 Martha Argerich, First Piano (left channel)
Mikhail Pletnev, Second Piano (right channel)

Ma Mere l'Oye:

 Martha Argerich and Mikhail Pletnev playing Four Hands on 1 piano,

 Martha Argerich sitting left

Recorded,edited and mastered by Emil Berliner Studios, 2004
Reviews :

Gramophone Magazine : Bryce Morrison - December 2004

Two megastar pianists in glittering duo arrangements: this is enthralling.
Listening to this inspired disc is like eaves-dropping on two of the great pianists of our time playing for their own pleasure, oblivious of microphones and without a trace of self-consciousness.How Argerich likes to revisit old favourites, here joining with Pletnev to invest Ravel's Mother Goose (which she recorded for DG with Nelson Freire and added exotic percussion, 10/97) with the utmost warmth and playful bravura beneath an insouciant Gallic surface.
But the main attraction is a delectable surprise: Pletnev's arrangement for two pianos of music from Prokofiev's Cinderella, described in Peter Cosse's booklet-note as 'a pianistic pas de deux...that is essentially an appeal — understated and rebellious by turns — on behalf of the oppressed and underprivileged'.
Polar opposites in temperament, Pletnev (a dab hand when it comes to transcriptions) and Argerich play as one: it would be difficult to imagine Prokofiev performed with more winning balletic grace and verve. Scenes flash by as if in some magical kaleidoscope, each episode characterised with pin-point clarity and jewel-like definition. Try the Waltz's bitter-sweet, off-centre charm, the fierce 'Quarrel', the onset of 'Spring' after 'Winter' and the final pages where the pianists roar and whisper by turn their delight in musicmaking and you will be enthralled. DG's sound is exemplary; this is surely a record in a thousand.

Audaud.com : John Sunier
*****

Have to admit I’m a patsy for multiple pianos, and when one can hear two of the greatest pianists on the concert stage today playing a work that has never been heard in a two-piano version before, and in hi-res surround sound on top of it, we have here an automatic disc of the month! Pletnev transcribed the delightful ballet of Prokofiev himself and dedicated the transcription to Argerich. He had earlier arranged the Nutcracker and some episodes from Rodion Shchedrin’s Anna Karenina, so this wasn’t entirely new for him. The art of the dance was entrusted to two pairs of hands, and the choreography and scenario of the original ballet took precedence over virtuoso outbursts for the two pianists. For those familiar with the orchestral score, it’s sort of like putting the ballet under X-ray and seeing its structure more clearly. One section does have a bit of an outburst, but perfectly motivated: The pealing of the bell at midnight as Cinderella is rushing out of the ball. Pletnev holds down some of the strings while playing the keyboard with his free hand while Argerich hammers out dark mysterious chords on her piano. The effect, with the startlingly wide dynamic range, is mesmerizing.
Ravel wrote his Five Pieces for Children for Piano 4 Hands originally, and later transcribed it for orchestra. It has less of the feeling of dance and more of impressionistic tone painting of the five scenes such as Tom Thumb and the Empress of the Pagodas. In Cinderella Argerich is heard on the left channel and Pletnev on the right; for Mother Goose Argerich sits on the left end of the bench, playing the bass section while Pletnev has the treble. When this combination of logistics appeared on standard CDs I could never exactly tell where the keyboards and/or performers were; with SACD there’s no doubt. A highly recommended musical and audio demo disc!

Enjoy the Music.com : Max Westler

Only her inner demons know for sure why Martha Argerich has, for at least the past decade or so, deserted a successful solo career to play a less exposed, more collaborative role in a series of chamber, two-piano, and concerto performances. Though some of the chamber and concerto recordings do indeed recall the incendiary glory of her solo playing, the two-piano work has thus far been consistently disappointing. It's not just that Argerich tends to bully her sometimes too agreeable partners (mostly Nelson Freire and Alexander Rabinovitch), but also that the resulting performances relentlessly hard-edged and driven sound ugly and tense sometimes almost neurotic.
In Rachmaninoff's Op. 5 and Op. 17 Suites, for example, Argerich (with Rabinovitch) willfully ignores the genial, lilting spirit of these appealing scores. Instead, we're taken on a frantic roller-coaster ride that's exciting as hell if you can somehow bear to listen to it. Even in Bartok's spiky Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, Argerich (with Freire) gives us a bum's rush through the score, divesting the music of its haunting melancholy and mysteriousness.
Of Two Minds
In Mikhail Pletnev, Argerich finally has a partner who is not only equally strong-willed, but als in both temperament and approach her polar opposite. My collection permitted enough telling comparisons between these two pianists to suggest their enormous differences. Whatever the music Tchaikovsky's First Concerto, a Chopin Scherzo, a Scarlatti Sonata Argerich is more percussive and combustible, Pletnev more attentive to the shifting moods and colors, the inner life of the score. Which is to say Agerich plays in a modern, self-consciously brilliant style, whereas Pletnev takes liberties, and can sometimes sound like a "Golden Age" pianist who' has landed in the wrong century.
So there were at least two good reasons to pass up this disc Argerich's dismal track record in two-piano performances, and her seeming incompatibility with her new partner. But I'm glad I chose not to pass, for this is the best by far of Argerich's two-piano recordings, and one of the more thoroughly enjoyable discs I've heard so far this year.
Pumpkins Into Equipage
For one thing, Pletnev's own transcription of Prokofiev's Cinderella is a major addition to the two-piano repertory. Though the composer himself arranged three fairly lengthy suites from the ballet for solo piano (opp. 95, 97, and 102), I've never been able to listen to them without missing the opulence and piquancy of Prokofiev's marvelous orchestration.
Pletnev has recorded the complete ballet with his Russian National Orchestra; and his transcription turns out to be less a "suite" than a concise but expressive reduction of the ballet as a whole that gives full weight to its imagery while at the same time maintaining a strong sense of narrative flow. The second piano adds atmosphere and color a rich "orchestral" palette that captures the score's many shifting moods. Pletnev's score is nothing if not theatrical.
Pas De Deux
So how do these otherwise ill-matched artists fare as a team? Magnificently. Though the notes tell us that Argerich is sitting first piano and to our left, the collaboration is so complete and integrated that after a time there is no sense of individual contributions: the two blend into one unifed intelligence with four nimble hands at its disposal. Listening to the magical hush that opens the music, the lightly tripping figures of the gavotte, the sheer animal surge of the famous gallop, or the explosive final apotheosis (with both pianists using their fists to toll an especially terrifying midnight hour), you may well think that this must be what two-piano playing is all about.
Mother Goose
Given the volatility of the Prokofiev, the restraint and intimacy of the playing in Ravel's diaphanous Mother Goose Suite comes as a pleasant surprise. Argerich and Pletnev (this time seated at the same piano) shape this utterly charming music with a delicate touch, fully responsive to its poetry and prismatic colors. There have been many successful versions of this suite, but none better than this one.
In Conclusion
In the past, I have had reservations about the brittle, rather too bright sound that DG typically affords even its best pianists, but I have no complaints about the sound here. Recording engineer Rainer Mallard has struck a perfect balance between transparency and warmth: every detail registers, but in an altogether natural-sounding way.
At just 55 minutes the timing seems a bit short. Surely another of Ravel's two-piano works (perhaps La Valse or Rhapsodie Espagnol) could have been added. Still, I doubt anyone will feel cheated after hearing this wonderful recital. Let's hope that one day soon Argerich will return to stage and microphone as a solo performer. Until then, I hope she and Pletnev will continue as partners, so that this disc isn't just a "one-hit wonder."

More info about this album and to listen to the samples : Here

Happy listening!

Posted by Ice