Kapustin: Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 72, Concerto for 2 Pianos & Percussion, Op. 104 & Sinfonietta for Piano 4-Hands, Op. 49

Album review

Nikolai Kapustin, who lived until 2020, remained in obscurity for much of his life (not that he minded), but his music is seeing signs of a revival. Marc-André Hamelin has played his highly virtuosic music, and 2021 brought all-Kapustin recordings from pianist Yeol Eum Son and from the present pianist, Frank Dupree, who seems to be emerging as Kapustin's champion. Kapustin offers a unique classical-jazz fusion. The usual way of accomplishing this, beginning with the Modern Jazz Quartet, is to add improvisation to basically classical structures. Kapustin is different. He has said that he does not improvise and is thus not a true jazz musician, but he fills classical forms like the sonata and concerto with jazz rhythms. Kapustin has sometimes been called the Russian Gershwin, and there is certainly a surface resemblance to Gershwin in the likes of the single-movement Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 72. However, Kapustin builds more on the works of 20th century classical composers who incorporated jazz into their music. One of these was Shostakovich, and Dupree captures his influence. Dupree has played jazz himself, and he provides lively forward momentum in the Sinfonietta for piano four-hands, Op. 49, probably the strongest of the three works here. Sample the fluent and high-spirited finale. The Concerto for two pianos and percussion, Op. 104, has the strongest jazz rhythmic element; despite the common ensemble, it shows little influence from Bartók's Sonata for two pianos and percussion. Kapustin seems a composer whose place in the repertory is likely to grow, and concert and radio programmers, as well as fans of fusion music, should pay attention to this Capriccio release, which hit classical best-seller charts in early 2023.

© James Manheim /TiVo