German pianists Andreas Grau and Götz Schumacher had their first musical encounter in 1981. Since then, as GrauSchumacher, they have been invited to perform at leading festivals and concert halls under the baton of the world’s most eminent conductors. They now take on the repertoire of Stravinsky and Debussy in this latest addition to the Fundación BBVA-NEOS Collection.

The name GrauSchumacher has become a hallmark of quality in duo playing, whether on two pianos or four-handed on one keyboard. Their mastery of both the classical repertoire, including Johann Sebastian Bach, and the works of contemporary composers who have written for them – from Peter Eötvos to Wolfgang Rihm or Karlheinz Stockhausen – assures a versatile approach to any score. Their long list of recorded work, in which Bach and Purcell alternate with Messiaen, Ligeti and Cage, is joined now by these renderings of Debussy and Stravinsky on two works identified with Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes. It is remarkable to hear how Debussy’s ‘Prelude A L’Apres-Midi D’Un Faune‘ converses with that monument of polyphonic dissonance Stravinsky’s ‘Le Sacre du Printemps‘, appearing here in its little known piano version for four hands which he penned just after the original orchestral score.

Performances by:
GrauShumacher Piano Duo

Contents:

CD Audio:

Claude Debussy
1. – 3. En blanc et noir (10:47)
11. – 16. Six épigraphes antiques (14:51)

Igor Stravinsky
4. – 10. Sonata for Two Pianos (08:56)
17. – 31. Le Sacre du Printemps (32:52)

Total time: 74:19