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27.6.15

Dip Your Ears, No. 197 (Crossing Bach and Kurtág)

available at Amazon
J.S.Bach / G.Kurtág, Piano Transcriptions for 4 Hands,
Duo Stephanie & Saar
New Focus Recordings

Aural Godliness

When György Kurtág sets out to transcribe Bach for himself and his wife to play on the piano, something special happens: The fragile wit of Kurtág is married to the eternal genius of Bach and, unbelievably, something even greater than the individual parts emerges. Piano Duo Stephanie Ho and Saar Ahuvia must feel similarly about them, focusing on Kurtág transcriptions (alongside some of Reger et al.), in their delightful album “Crossings”. The performances are a few percentage points short of perfection, but the music is perfection. Bach-Kurtág is a bit like getting G*d injected in the ears. Very much recommended.



1 comment:

Charles T. Downey said...

Nice. I have very fond memories of hearing the Kurtágs perform some of these in person at the Library of Congress a few years ago.