Carl Czerny: Piano Music, Volume Two: Music for Piano Duo and Piano Duet
The Viennese-born Carl Czerny (1791–1857) is best remembered for his countless pedagogical studies, hundreds and hundreds of them. But his astonishing fecundity – his opus numbers go up to 861, and there is much more music than that – has obscured the fact that he was an important composer in his own right, his works forming a link between Beethoven (his teacher) and Liszt (his student), between the Classical and Romantic eras. The four pieces recorded here – two for two pianos and two for piano four-hands – were intended to impress the salons of Biedermeyer Vienna. The titles of three of them contain the word ‘brillant’: Czerny’s intention was to dazzle and entertain, and that’s just what this sparkling music does.
Jingshu Zhao, piano
Haoyue Liang, piano
Listen To This Recording:
Grandes Variations brillantes et concertantes pour deux Pianofortes sur un Thème favori de l’Opéra Montecchi e Capuleti, Op. 285 (24:55)
- Introduzione. Allegro (3:18)
- Theme. Allegro (1:20)
- Var. 1, Molto brillante (1:54)
- Var. 2, Più vivace (1:38)
- Var. 3, Meno mosso con grazia (2:30)
- Var. 4, Allegro molto vivace (1:58)
- Var. 5, Molto allegro (2:25)
- Var. 6, Andante non troppo (3:32)
- Finale. Molto Allegro (6:20)
- Rondo Brillant in B-Flat Major, Op. 321, for piano duet (7:07)
Duo Brillant et Concertant pour Deux Pianos in B flat, Op. 358 (29:15)
- I. Allegro con brio (13:09)
- II. Theme. Andante con moto quasi Allegretto (0:55)
- Var. 1, A tempo (1:12)
- Var. 2, Vivo e brillante (1:25)
- Var. 3, Meno allegro con grazia (2:09)
- Var. 4, Allegro vivace e brillante (1:40)
- III. Finale. Molto Allegro (8:49)
Fantaisie et Variations à Quatre Mains sur l’Opéra de Bellini ‘I Puritani’, Op. 376 (14:34)
- Introduction. Allegretto sostenuto (3:14)
- Tema. Allegro moderato (1:13)
- Var. 1, Energico (1:15)
- Var. 2, Veloce e brillante (1:27)
- Var. 3, Un poco ritenuto – Allegro vivace (2:51)
- Andante espressivo (1:29)
- Finale. Molto allegro (3:12)
First Recordings
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