Baba Yaga - Pictures at an Exhibition

The Duo Vivace presents a classical pops variety program of 19th Century transcriptions for piano and percussion. What can I say? They’re fantastic performers, and there’s nothing to complain about. The nuance and details of the pieces are well considered and crisply executed. The recording is good, and the balance between the two instruments is fantastic. The most significant piece is Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. They play it well and I was surprised at how much the percussion adds to the piano original, which always sounds thin and ineffective to me compared to the orchestral version. Nothing can replace the power and color of strings and brass. The light ragtime pieces from early in the 20th Century are a nice addition. Marimbist Albrecht Volz is an accurate and expressive player.

Das wohl am meisten arrangierte Werke der Klassik, Mussorgskys 'Bilder einer Ausstellung' wird hier in einer effektvollen aber irgendwie doch sehr trivialen Fassung für Klavier und Schlagzeug vorgestellt, an der vor allem Schlagzeuger Gefallen finden werden. Von den eigentlichen Bildern entfernt sich diese Transkription relativ weit.

Das ganze Programm – editorisch sicherlich ein Kuriosum – wird handwerklich gut betreut vom Duo Vivace (Andreas Baumann, Klavier, Albrecht Volz, Schlagzeug).