This album brings together both Suites for two pianosthe transcription of the slow movement of the 2e Symphony and the Symphonic dances by Rachmaninov. The privilege of seeing the master Sergei Babayan and his gifted disciple Daniil Trifonov was given to Montrealers in the Concerto for two pianos and percussion by Bartók in May 2023. The miracle of this transcendent alliance jumps to everyone’s ears from the transcription of the slow movement of the 2e Symphony, which opens the disk. Layers of sound and incredible universes emerge from the two keyboards. This magic which is confirmed throughout the record crystallizes in a truly indescribable way in the Symphonic dances, whose witchcraft we thought we had heard in the Argerich-Goerner (2014) and Argerich-Lim (2019) versions, at Warner. The DG sound bias, more “in the piano” (but without excess), makes this influence even greater by putting a magnifying glass on this musical and pianistic diabolism. This is the first essential and gigantic CD of the year. Mind-blowing!
To watch on video