What I like best about Poul Ruders is that he’s his own man. Ruders picks and chooses from all the various contemporary compositional trends. He mixes and matches them, all in service of the idea he wants to express. And Ruders makes it all sound not only cohesive but logical — as if it simply […]
Quattro Mani
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Quattro Mani excel with Stefan Wolpe two-piano music
The personal nature of this music makes this volume of Stefan Wolpe one of the most important, I think. Stefan Wolpe met pianist Irma Schoenberg in 1927. Through 1942, when they separated, they had a professional and personal relationship. Schoenberg enabled Wolpe to flee Nazi Germany and rescue his music besides. She inspired the March […]
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Quattro Mani Restructure Piano Duo Concept
The new release from the Quattro Mani is aptly titled “Re-Structures.” Steven Beck and Susan Grace restructure the concept of a piano duo, making it more of a keyboard duo. And that’s an important distinction. The program features works for two pianos as bookends. Paul Lanksy’s brisk and brief “Out of the Blue” opens the […]
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Quarttro Mani – More than Lounge Lizards
I love everything about this release. The performances are top-notch, and the theme is focused. Yet within that focus is an amazing variety of compositions and styles. This recording is with the new Quattro Mani duo piano team (Steven Beck replaced retiring Alice Rybak in 2013). Though the Susan Grace/Steven Beck chemistry is slightly different […]