Mendelssohn - Piano Works for 4 Hands
Yaara Tal & Andreas Groethuysen (piano duo)
Brilliant virtuosity in the composer's own arrangements of his Octet and First Symphony. Generous pedaling reduced the impact of the lithe cello parts in the Octet, but this version of the...
Mendelssohn - Piano Works for 4 Hands
Yaara Tal & Andreas Groethuysen (piano duo)
Purchase product
Brilliant virtuosity in the composer's own arrangements of his Octet and First Symphony. Generous pedaling reduced the impact of the lithe cello parts in the Octet, but this version of the...
About
Piano duo Tal & Groethuysen returns with a recording of works by Mendelssohn which he adapted himself from the large-scale chamber and orchestral versions they are usually heard in.
The 19th century was the heyday of the four-handed piano duet, a form of music-making that provided music-lovers with the opportunity to perform orchestral and vocal works in their own home that they could otherwise only hear in the concert hall or on stage. Released in the 200th anniversary year of his birth, Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was a gifted pianist himself and very fond of domestic music-making. He only wrote a handful of original works for piano duet, but the catalogue of his works contains no fewer than 18 arrangements of his own pieces for four-handed piano, among them two symphonies, a string quartet, several overtures and the entire score of his incidental music for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Contents and tracklist
- Tal & Groethuysen
- Tal & Groethuysen, Mikayel Hakhnazaryan (cello), Oliver Wille (violin)
Awards and reviews
October 2009
Brilliant virtuosity in the composer's own arrangements of his Octet and First Symphony. Generous pedaling reduced the impact of the lithe cello parts in the Octet, but this version of the Symphony is extremely effective.
Awards Issue 2009
…a keen appreciation of structure, a scintillating range of colours and a compelling lightness of touch. If an alien landed on Earth and had his first experience of Mendelssohn via these performances, he'd marvel at the wonder of the music and never have an inkling it could have been conceived for anything other than these forces.
28th june 2009
These are Mendelssohn’s own arrangements of his early works. The Octet in E flat, for strings, sublime masterpiece of his 17th year, remains felicitious, captivating and touching in this piano-duo version, played with stylishness and vigour by the Israeli Yaara Tal and the German Andreas Groethuytsen
21st June 2009
Tal and Groethuysen make light of all complexities in this zestful work.
