Four Hands —Leon Fleisher, Katherine Jacobson, piano (Sony 506416)
The husband-and-wife piano duo is back with both charming and virtuosic pieces by Brahms, Schubert, Ravel and Bolcom for piano 4-hands. It’s all gentle domesticity and high spirits in the Liebeslieder Waltzes Op 52a which have been called “among the loveliest and most beguiling of all Brahms’ compositions”. Then comes one of the most popular four-hand pieces by a composer who was well versed in the style, Schubert’s Fantasy in F minor. Lucien Garban was a lifelong friend of Maurice Ravel and adapted many of his friend's works for piano solo or duet; his arrangement of La valse gives the Fleisher-Jacobson duo a chance to show their pianistic chops, before William Bolcom’s delightful Graceful Ghost Rag, arranged by William Grossman, brings this recital to a peaceful, syncopated close.
Featured Wed 3/9, Fri 3/18, Tue 3/29