Review by Alexander Tharwood and Friends – Four Hands

Alexander Tharud provides a different musical partner on 22 pieces, including notable names such as Bruce Liu, Beatrice Rana, Maryam Patsashvili, David Fry, Vikingur Olafsson and Alexander Melnikov. It is also original that Gautier Capuçon and Philippe Jaroussky used it on the keyboard. So just drop one name? Tharood always chose works keeping in mind the personality and preferences of his colleagues. This journey through the world of Four Hands is equally colorful and takes small steps. What's amazing is that the recording still sounds uniform. Of course, one would have liked to hear more than one movement from Fauré's Dolly Suite; One can also imagine Hungarian dances with the Tharaud-Liu duet in long form. With so much heterogeneity, it is difficult to reach a comprehensive conclusion. But the album is certainly more than just a marketing gimmick, it is definitely an advertisement for the piano duo format.

Four hands
Alexandre Tharaud, Nicolas Angelich, Bertrand Chamayo, Maryam Batiashvili, Ariel Beck, Gautier Capson, Philippe Jaroski and others (piano)

Works by Brahms, J.S. Bach/Kurtag, Piazzolla, Fauré, Tchaikovsky and others
Erato