Given the delights of the evening’s entertainment it’s no surprise that this was the fourth time the Club has invited Duo b!z’art to play for us. With a theme of “Across the Stars” they were themselves stars!
In the small meeting room, and with members of the audience so close to the performers, the piano is often used on its short stick, or even with lid closed, but the lid was fully open to greet us, making one wonder what the experience would be like of being in the firing line for not two, but four hands. In the event the duo exploited the full dynamic range, from whisper quiet to stunningly loud. And it was fun watching their faces and body language as they responded to the moods of the music, revealing their total involvement in what they were delivering to us.
Their first item was an arrangement of the first movement of Mahler’s Symphony no. 1, which they played with panache following a contemplative opening.
Then followed Moon Pictures, by Edward MacDowell, with movements depicting a Hindoo maiden, a stork, the Austrian Tyrol, a swan and finally the Visit of the Bears! The duo made full use of the changes of mood, from deeply expressive to dramatically dynamic.
The delightful Sinfonietta by Nikolai Kapustin had four jazzy movements, contemplative, angular and sparkling by turns. In their introduction they pointed out that, though billed as jazz, the whole piece is notated, with no element of improvisation. But it’s none the worse for that: Gershwin’s well-known Rhapsody in Blue is similarly a scripted composition.
The second half of the programme was a stunning performance of Holst’s suite The Planets, arranged by the Belgian pianist and composer Laurent Beeckmans. One is so accustomed to hearing the orchestral version of this work that it was refreshing to hear it rendered for four hands, and for this reviewer at least, the different timbre enhanced my concentration on the music rather than letting me drift away and merely enjoy favourite moments of Mars or Jupiter. This latter was simply stunning, with seamless handovers of dazzling fingerwork between the pianists.
What a wonderful evening!
Clifton Hughes