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[Karl Henning]

I'll just note that unlike (say) choirs and string quartets, concert pianists are almost never members of a team, and that this is not a piano four-hands program. I'll stand by my hypothesis that this is a marketing ploy.

[Madiel]

Yes, and my point is that the whole concept that pianists must be some kind of magnificent solo act is just that, a concept. There is nothing inherent in the act of playing a piano that requires you to first ensure that no other pianist can get near the auditorium before or after you perform a piece.

We're happy enough for piano teachers to put on a concert with a multiplicity of students, but for some reason there comes a point where 2 pianists being on the same programme becomes an outrageous notion unless it's a competition of some kind.  Classical musicians are allowed to play together but not sequentially (in pop music, it's apparently acceptable).

EDIT: I would also note that listeners, here and elsewhere, can often be seen putting together their own favourite combination of performances when they think that one musician/orchestra has done well in another piece and a different musician/orchestra is preferable in a different piece. But when musicians make these sorts of decisions for themselves, apparently this is not allowed.

[JBS]

Or just 2 pianists who know that each of them does better on certain kinds of pieces. Why is teamwork a bad thing in this particular context?

If, as Brian's comment suggests, they are just playing in mechanical alternation, they are probably not portioning it based on who is better at playing which piece.

Why not instead, if they want to play to their own strengths, a CD from Ms. Lin of Liszt pieces she has a preference for, and a similar one from Mr. Tendler?

[Brian]

So, it's not total alternation, Jenny Lin does back to back tracks at one point. But my own view usually is why not have one performer record the stuff they feel comfortable recording and put that out on a CD?

Also doesn't help that one of the artists in this case is quite famous and has a good reputation, and the other is totally unknown.

Maybe it's great!! Maybe he is a really talented student of hers or something. But for me it sets off alarm bells.

[Madiel]

If, as Brian's comment suggests, they are just playing in mechanical alternation, they are probably not portioning it based on who is better at playing which piece.

Why not instead, if they want to play to their own strengths, a CD from Ms. Lin of Liszt pieces she has a preference for, and a similar one from Mr. Tendler?

So, it's not total alternation, Jenny Lin does back to back tracks at one point. But my own view usually is why not have one performer record the stuff they feel comfortable recording and put that out on a CD?

Because then you would complain about the length of the album and ask "why didn't you play the whole collection"?

Apparently one pianist with multiple singers is fine, right? I've seen and own lots of such albums. Faure, Poulenc, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich and Duparc albums I can think of off the top of my head.

[Brian]

Well, singers have different ranges.

I'm not super emotionally invested in this and not looking for an argument. But it used to be very common for artists to not record complete cycles of stuff, and the recent trend of complete cycles as the dominant mode of recording is a thing we don't really admit is, honestly, kinda strange.

[Spotted Horses]

Well, singers have different ranges.

I'm not super emotionally invested in this and not looking for an argument. But it used to be very common for artists to not record complete cycles of stuff, and the recent trend of complete cycles as the dominant mode of recording is a thing we don't really admit is, honestly, kinda strange.

Lin and Tendler perform modern music together.

https://littleisland.org/events/nyc-free:-philip-glass-mixtape:-jenny-lin-and-adam-tendler/26202ACGMMQQPMLRTMJGDSSHKNCHJVBNT

The Liszt album appears to be a reproduction of a concert program that they perform live.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/arts/music/liszt-poetic-religious-harmonies-green-wood.html

Apparently they find performing together artistically satisfying. I guess you can call that a gimmick.

[Brian]

The Liszt album appears to be a reproduction of a concert program that they perform live.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/arts/music/liszt-poetic-religious-harmonies-green-wood.html

Apparently they find performing together artistically satisfying. I guess you can call that a gimmick.

Very interesting, thank you! This is the missing context we needed.

[Madiel]

Sorry, the missing context we needed is... the 2 pianists know each other?

Good grief.

[T. D.]

The label, Steinway & Sons (branch of the piano mfr.) seems to be a serious and quality outfit. I have Schepkin's Partitas on the label, recordings like Scherbakov's Beethoven and Schepkin's French Suites also got my attention.
I wouldn't automatically write this two-person Liszt off as crap or gimmicky, though I admit I'm not interested in it.

[Added] I've always thought of Jenny Lin as a contemporary music specialist, but maybe I haven't been paying attention (not unusual  ). I've recently noticed several "standard repertory" recordings by her on the "Listening" thread.

[Spotted Horses]

Reading the Times review of their live performance, the underlying idea seems to be that the two pianists, who tend to specialize in modern music, find something avant garde in the austerity of this music, which normally regarded as just boring Liszt. Their collaboration and common experience allows them to experience this music differently than they would have if one of them had performed it as a soloist.

In any case, I only have heard the music in Leslie Howard's complete edition (where the patience is further challenged by the fact that he records two different versions of the piece). I'll admit to being somewhat intrigued.

[Symphonic Addict]

The booklet has an extensive explanation of the challenges of recording it for CD rather than presenting it live and an explanation of what you miss not seeing it on stage. For example, one movement must be repeated by the orchestra as often as necessary while a guy on stage eats a plate of roast beef. Some "eaters" try to eat quickly to avoid too many repetitions, while others take their time to torture the musicians! On this recording they do three repetitions (totaling 1 minute).

I hadn't heard anything similar before. It looks like the eaters did their best. 

Very innovative and curious to say the least!

[aukhawk]

I'll just note that unlike (say) choirs and string quartets, concert pianists are almost never members of a team, and that this is not a piano four-hands program. I'll stand by my hypothesis that this is a marketing ploy.

It could have been worse.  They could each be playing one hand.  On separate pianos.

[Karl Henning]

If, as Brian's comment suggests, they are just playing in mechanical alternation, they are probably not portioning it based on who is better at playing which piece.

Why not instead, if they want to play to their own strengths, a CD from Ms. Lin of Liszt pieces she has a preference for, and a similar one from Mr. Tendler?

Artist's Choice. As done by great pianists before, as we know.

[staxomega]

I am curious what people think of Zoltan Kocsis' Art of Fugue. I think this was the first one I ever bought on piano and I've never liked it. It's not quite as bad as Aimard, but it is pretty heavy handed.

Someone mentioned the box on another forum and I streamed/downloaded a bunch of his other recordings over the week that I didn't own and found the performances generally excellent. When I was first getting into classical and small record stores still sold CDs, Kocsis was one of the major label pianists that I have never seen and it seems like quite a few of his CDs are still hard to find online. I'm not as big a fan of his Debussy recordings, though this is mostly the rather large number of great Debussy solo keyboard performances that are out there already.

[Artem]

This disk was my introduction to Depussy piano music and it still remains one of my favourites. I think Kocsis plays beautifully here and the programme is very nicely put too.

[Mandryka]

I am curious what people think of Zoltan Kocsis' Art of Fugue. I think this was the first one I ever bought on piano and I've never liked it. It's not quite as bad as Aimard, but it is pretty heavy handed.

I think like many things that Kocisis has done the first impression is that it has a sort of intense drive, energy. There is more going on, it's virtuosic, he uses some dynamic variation. But mainly it's about energy.

I think it's quite thrilling in fact, but rapidly wears out its welcome for me, and ultimately I think it's jejune. It just misses too much potential poetry in the music.

[Mirror Image]

This disk was my introduction to Depussy piano music and it still remains one of my favourites.

Ummm....

Ummm....hmmm...I'm going to try to be mature here. Pull yourself together, MI, pull yourself together!

[Karl Henning]

Likewise, which has me wondering, will the delivery be on the release date?

When I check at Amazon, the site indicates delivery tomorrow.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

This disk was my introduction to Depussy piano music and it still remains one of my favourites. I think Kocsis plays beautifully here and the programme is very nicely put too.

His playing is not for me though I really like his name.