Piano Duos (Remastered) Elena Sorokina & Alexander Bakhchiev

• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828):
• 1 Rondo in D Major, Op. 138, D. 608 07:22
• 2 12 Grazer Waltzer, Op. 91, D. 924 07:43
• 3 8 Variations on a French Song, Op. 10, D. 624 14:30
• 4 3 Marches militaires, Op. 51, D. 733: No. 3, Allegro moderato 05:08
• 5 3 Marches héroïques, Op. 27, D. 602: No. 3, Moderato 05:44
• 6 6 Grandes marches, Op. 40, D. 819: No. 5 in E-Flat Minor 11:46
• 7 2 Marches caractéristiques, Op. posth. 121, D. 968b No. 2 06:40
• 8 Divertissement, Op. 84: No. 1, Andantino varié in B Minor 09:28
• 9 Rondo in A Major, Op. 107, D. 951 10:40
• Béla Bartók (1881 - 1945): Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion, Sz. 110:
• 10 Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion, Sz. 110: I. Assai lento - Allegro molto 13:20
• 11 Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion, Sz. 110: II. Lento, ma non troppo 06:36
• 12 Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion, Sz. 110: III. Allegro non troppo 06:32
• Total Runtime 01:45:29

Info for Piano Duos (Remastered)

Melodiya presents the first part of the anthology 'Piano Duet' featuring Elena Sorokina and Alexander Bakhchiyev.

The ensemble of two remarkable musicians, professors of the Moscow Conservatory, Honoured Art Worker of Russia Elena Sorokina and People's Artist of Russia Alexander Bakhchiyev was formed in 1968. For more than thirty years they jointly performed in this country and around the world. In fact, the duet of Sorokina and Bakhchiyev revived the culture of piano duet which used to be so popular in Russia. They have performed more than a hundred compositions of the genre (many of them were premieres in this country) and been recognized a 'Golden duet of Russia'.

'Their emergence on stage is always a feast of music, joy and beauty,' wrote Leonid Zhivov, a pianist and professor of the Moscow Conservatory.

This album is dedicated to piano compositions four hands from the period of German romanticism and along with unpretentious pieces 'for home playing' includes deeply dramatic ones. So, you will hear Schubert's virtuosic and romantic fantasia along with his waltzes and polonaises, Brahms's Hungarian Dances, Schumann's very distinctive Gespenstermarchen and waltzes by Joseph Lanner, a very popular Austrian composer in his time who initiated the era of Viennese waltz his music very much anticipated the Strauss dynasty.

The recordings were made in 1974 to 1990.

"Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Melodiya has worked wonders in remastering these high voltage readings, including a no-holds barred Schubert Fantasie." (BBC Music Magazine)

Elena Sorokina, piano
Alexander Bakhchiyev, piano

Elena Sorokina
s a Russian-born, Paris based curator and art historian, alumna of the Whitney Museum of American Art ISP in New York.

She obtained her masters degree in art history from the Friedrich Wilhelm's University in Bonn, Germany. She recently co-organized "Spaces of Exception" a special project for the Moscow Biennial, the symposium "What is a postcolonial exhibition?", a collaborative project of SMBA/Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Stedelijk Museum.

Her recent exhibitions include (selection): "Temps Trituré. Agnes Varda" at LVMH in Brussels, "Petroliana" at Moscow Museum of Modern Art; "Laws of Relativity" at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; "On Traders' Dilemmas" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; “Scènes Centrales" at Tri Postal, Lille; "Etats de l'Artifice" at the Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and others. She published in numerous catalogs, and has been writing for Artforum, Flash Art, Cabinett Magazine, Manifesta Journal, Moscow Art Magazine, and other publications.

Sorokina is a frequent speaker in international conferences and has been invited as guest lecturer to ISCP, New York; Garage CCC, Moscow; Centre Pompidou, Paris, and other institutions.

This album contains no booklet.