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
Stretto :
”Maar in zijn verbluffend oeuvre, zijn opus nummers gaan tot 861!, is er veel meer muziek dan louter techniek, wat onthult dat Czerny een belangrijke componist was. Zijn werken vormden nl. een schakel tussen Beethoven (zijn leraar) en Liszt (zijn leerling), tussen het klassiek en het romantisch tijdperk. De stukken die hier zijn opgenomen, alle voor de eerste keer, weerspiegelen de schittering van zijn eigen spel en waren bedoeld voor de Biedermeyer salons in Wenen.’
English translation:
‘But in his stunning oeuvre—his opus numbers go up to 861!—there is much more music than mere technique, which reveals that Czerny was an important composer. His works formed, in fact, a link between Beethoven (his teacher) and Liszt (his pupil), between the Classical and the Romantic eras. The pieces included here, all for the first time, reflect the brilliance of his own playing and were intended for the Biedermeier salons in Vienna.’
—Michel Dutrieue, Stretto