The 'Non Profit Music' label is gaining a solid reputation for issuing SA-CDs with unusual repertoire. Here is another one. I had never even heard of Nikolai Kapustin (born 1937), but on this evidence I'm very pleased to make acquaintance with his music.

Kapustin, a Ukranian, was something of a prodigy on the piano at an early age, and after tuition he entered the Moscow Conservatory where he was fully classically trained. As a student he moonlighted as a jazz pianist (at a time when the Soviet authorities regarded Jazz as decadent and potentially subversive). It is not therefore not surprising that the bulk of his impressive inventory of compositions involve one or two pianos, and that his style is essentially that of Jazz improvisation, imbued by homage to the great Jazz pianists such as Peterson, Corea, Tatum and Jarrett. All of the music, however, is fully written out and scored according to classical practice. I could find no clear musical inklings of his Russian roots, yet there are certainly are influences of Bach, Debussy, Gershwin, Shostakovich and Prokofiev, amongst others. Characteristically, the music demands virtuosity from his interpreters, and an ability to reconstruct his improvisatory style from carefully written-out sources. Except for the Eight Concert Etudes Op. 40, all the works on this disc are first recordings.

The headline work here is the Concerto for two pianos and percussion Op. 104. Free-wheeling its idiom may be, but like the following Sonata 14, Op. 120, it bows to classical tradition by having three movements, the central one being slow and melodic. Its first movement begins with a growling introduction which soon hits its stride of busy and catchy rhythmic Jazz rhetoric, melting into a "second subject" with a relaxed bluesy melodic turn. Pianists Daniel Pine and Ludmil Angelov are as one mind about their interpretation, with seamless, fluid playing and often breathtaking articulation in exchange of their running figures. The accompanying 2-man 'Neopercussion' group marshal their impressive array of tuned and non-tuned instruments with crisp precision, supporting and highlighting their pianists without dominating textures. This is very approachable and often exciting music, inventive and quite unpredictable in its switches of mood and motion.

The Concert's slow movement is sexy and flirtatious, elements of Debussy and Gershwin melded into a songful first part, an off-beat uplift giving the tune a humorous uplift. It climaxes then segues into a hectic moto perpetuo for the pianists, who effortlessly swap dazzling run sequences from piano to piano, aided by glocks and xylophones. A return to the opening tune brings a soft, magical conclusion. Almost immediately, the exuberant Finale startlingly bursts in, full of good-humoured energy and variations on barely hidden tunes in a true Jazz manner.

Daniel del Pino takes over to play the Eight Concert Etudes Op 40. The eight short pieces are astonishingly difficult in true Lisztian style, and again notable for their energy and lyricism. Del Pino extracts the varying moods of these formidable studies, as hinted at by their title (Prelude, Reverie, Toccatina, Reminiscence, Railery, Pastoral, Intermezzo and Finale).

Ludmil Angelov is allocated the Sonata 14, Op. 120. He is best known for his prize-winning Chopin recordings, but gives a dazzling pianistic display of jazz techniques here. I thought that the cool, sweet slow movement contained a clear reference to the lilting lift theme from the slow movement of the 2 piano concerto; perhaps unconscious on the composer's part but certainly ear-catching if you have recently been listening to the concerto.

As a sort of encore, the two pianists are reunited to complete the disc in a tongue-in-cheek 'Paraphrase on Dizzy Gillespie's "Manteca" for two pianos. The obsessive repeated notes of Dizzy's tune are treated to a percussive and dynamic set of variations which are great fun and an affectionate tribute to the great jazz trumpeter and composer.

This sparkling programme is given a very appropriate sound by the engineers. As far as I can see from the several session photos, the pianos used were Kawai, now used by a number of Jazz pianists. From the session pictures, they were fairly closely miked, but the sound still carries the ambience of the venue without loosing brilliance and attack. The double piano concerto and percussion group are presented in a full surround 'stage' mode. If you have full range speakers for your surrounds, you will find yourself sitting in the middle of the action, with the pianos front left and right, the left piano obliquely across the room corner, with the percussion arrayed all around. Three timps are along the back wall, with a hi-hat cymbal centre back; glocks and xylophone spread from right surround along the right side wall. The positioning has pinpoint location, and the thrill of this splendid surround sound production adds greatly to one's enjoyment of the concerto.

I thoroughly enjoyed hearing Kapustin's music, played with such precision, dedication and musical intuition. It made me want to hear more of the composers work. I'm not sure that he has a distinctive voice; perhaps further exploration will reveal that, but the disc is very entertaining, certainly warranting further hearings. And the surround sound recording of the two piano concerto is one of the best and most convincing 'stage' productions I have yet encountered.

Recommended!

Copyright © 2010 John Miller and HRAudio.net

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