Any remnant whiff of a Victorian drawing room was blasted away by the Fringe piano duet recital at Friends’ Meeting House on Wednesday afternoon.
No genteel affair by young ladies afraid of solo performance but a barnstorming version of Stravinsky’s Rite Of Spring played by the four hands of pianists Marina Korneva and Alan Loader on a modern Yamaha grand.
They began their lunchtime recital with Six Epigraphes Antiques by Debussy, inspired by the poetry of Pierre Louys and which are not antique at all. These six charming miniatures, played with perfect precision, were occasionally onomatopoeic, always impressionist and undeservedly unfamiliar.
Norman Jacobs presented a short film about Stravinsky, explaining that he had demonstrated the Rite Of Spring to his friend Debussy when they sight-read it together in piano duet form, a feat still almost unimaginable, (Debussy agreed to play the bass while Stravinsky peered through thick lenses.)
The fiendishly difficult music constantly changes tempo and key, dancing above and below the stave with glissandi and ratatat repetition. It is dazzling stuff, harmonically shocking even now, and dramatically performed by Korneva and Loader.
The audience shrieked applause but accepted that no encore was possible. Who needs an orchestra?
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here