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CD Review by Peter Burwasser FANFARE MAGAZINE
IN TANDEM Judith Cohen (pn); Jill Timmons (pn) CAPSTONE (70:06) Live: Longview, WA
MOZART Sonata for Two Pianos in D. SAINT-SAĖNS Variations on a Theme
by Beethoven. COPLAND (arr. Gold and Fizdale) Rodeo. GERSHWIN (arr.
Grainger) Porgy and Bess, A Fantasy for Two Pianos. BACH (arr. Howe)
Sheep May Safely Graze
There are few acts of musical synchronization more treacherous than
the piano duet, with a crystalline texture that leaves every detail
in the clearest light. This team, the Cohen/Timmons Duo, can therefore
be credited with special bravery to present their art in a recording
of a live concert in Longview, Washington. They fair very well, starting
with a vivid, living recreation of Mozart's two-piano masterpiece.
There is no room for cover in this music, and these artists manage to
convey the joy and beauty of the music with accuracy and vigor, if
not the last degree of spit-and-polish precision. The Saint-Saėns set of
eight variations, fugue, and presto on a theme from a Beethoven
Minuet, is also conveyed with great brio and color. What a brilliant
work this is, a real masterpiece of the duo-piano repertoire that
deserves more exposure.
The balance of the program includes very familiar music that must
compete with original versions that are ingrained in our collective
consciousness. The most successful is also the most substantial,
Percy Grainger's loving and exuberant arrangement of the big tunes from
Porgy and Bess. Grainger creates the sense that the music was devised
on a piano by emphasizing the glistening percussiveness of the score.
Again, Cohen/Timmons gets it just right. I suspect the warmly
recorded pair of Bluthner pianos on which the duo is performing adds
something to the sheen of this music-making. The Copland and Bach
offer no revelations, but who can ever tire of these melodies in any
form? In all, a delightful recital from a highly expressive and
virtuosic pair of pianists.
Peter Burwasser
This article originally appeared in Issue 28:1 (Sept/Oct 2004) of Fanfare Magazine.
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