When two remarkably gifted pianists sit side-by-side and play as one, but with four hands, and perform extremely difficult pieces across many genres, the audience is treated to a rare spectacle.
This was the treat for all who attended Viva’s concert last Thursday at the Auditorio de la Ribera, when Blandine Tricot and Marita Zimmer, both members of the music faculty of the University of Guadalajara, performed together in concert. Their technical perfection was nothing short of amazing, and their ability to play together, sometimes with hands crossing those of the other, was wondrous to watch and listen to. This was matched by their great dynamic range and expressive control and sensitivity to the music.
Their program started out with Mozart’s Sonata in C Major for four hands. It is technic ally one of the more difficult of Mozart’s pieces but Tricot and Zimmer played it crisply and smoothly and it flowed consistently throughout all three movements. The first part of the program concluded with eight waltzes by Brahms, which were varied and charming. When they got to the 8th, Brahms’ little Waltz in A flat major, many in the audience murmured, for it was one that almost all young people learning the piano play (of course scored for two hands).
The second part of the program opened with the Petite Suite by Debussy, and was, to this reviewer, the highlight of the evening. The first three movements were all played moderately, each featuring lovely melodies. It opened with “En Bateau” (the boat) with the melody accompanied by rolling six note phrases below, feeling and sounding just like waves. It returned to this, after a development in the middle, but then changed the rolling to seven-note phrases, and drifted off quietly at the end. The second movement, “Cortege” (Procession), started out softly, again with a captivating melody, occasionally doubled in the two pianos, and ended with a brief reference to the melody but with strong loud chords. The third movement, “Menuet,” again treated us to a charming melody in the opening bars, but then went into a difficult development, only to return at the end with a brief reference to the opening melody, and this time it just drifts away. It closed with a fast and dynamic “Ballet.” This was the most technically difficult movement, flawlessly played by the pianists. It opened with the melody first in the second player (“Secondo”) and then passed it to the first (“Primo”). The piece went through a difficult development, only suddenly to change to a rapid waltz in a different key with a different melody. After a time it returned to the original key and melody, and went out with a smashing set of chords with a hint of the opening melody.
This piece was followed by Slavonic Dances by Antonin Dvorak. Dynamic and melodic and difficult for the pianists, but again handled flawlessly.
The final piece, “Sonata” by Francis Poulenc, completely changed the mood. Poulenc was a member of “Les Six” in Paris (including Darius Milhaud) toward the beginning of the last century, when impressionism was developing in both art and music. The piece opened loudly and atonally, startling the audience. It mellowed out in the middle movement, before concluding with a pianistic tour-de-force.
A wonderful concert by two talented performers.