Stravinsky & Prokofiev: Transcriptions for piano

ATMA | ITUNES | AMAZON

Canadian pianist David Jalbert is featured on this recording of piano transcriptions of Russian ballet repertoire. He brilliantly performs music from Stravinsky’s Petrushka and The Firebird, and from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet.

Jalbert proves extrovert and incisive… What colour and motoric momentum he brings to the ‘Danse infernale’, contrasting with his caressingly flexible treatment of the Berceuse. The finale’s opening tremolos are differentiated in regard to voicing and touch, helping to build the movement to an exultant climax… Better still are the 10 pieces that Prokofiev arranged from his ballet Romeo and Juliet. It’s ironic how Jalbert’s readings are so vividly and diversely detailed from a pianistic standpoint, yet one almost doesn’t notice the instrument. In ‘The Street Awakens’, for example, Jalbert’s minute gradations of touch in the detached phrases evoke an agile woodwind section, while his brisk, long-lined treatment of ‘The Arrival of the Guests’ is a real minuet, rather than the heavy-handed clog dance one often hears. By keeping the dashing scales of ‘The Young Juliet’ on an even keel, Jalbert allows you to hear the air between the rapid notes. The pianist underlines the final movement’s expressive points by judiciously contouring the music’s polyphony and using discreet rubato, thereby shaving off a minute or two from slower, more superficially emotive renditions. A worthwhile disc…
– GRAMOPHONE