Taking The Piano East

An intriguing recital by the piano duo of Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow on an album called Orientale. Described as eight pieces for piano duo inspired by the east, the works range from transcriptions of established orchestral and chamber pieces, to originals to works written specifically for this duo. Some pieces are more obviously and authentically oriental, others have that 19th century exotic idea of the east rather than the reality and a couple don't seem to these ears to sound very eastern at all. But the disk holds together as a very interesting and involving whole. In the exotica camp are pieces by Saint-Saens ( Caprice Arabe ) Borodin ( In The Steppes of Central Asia ) and Gliere ( Orientale ). There are two reminders that the Jewish heritage is an eastern one with Yiddish Dances by Adam Gorb and an arrangement of Hebrew Melody by Joseph Achron. Gorb wrote his work for the duo as did John Mayer, whose Sangit Alamkara Suite has Indian overtones. The pieces by Colin McPhee head still further east with Balinese Ceremonial Music. My favourite works though are the arrangements for two pianos by Nora Day of Beni Mora by Holst. Realised from fragments Holst heard while on a cycling trip in Algeria, these are mysterious and moving pieces that form a central point of peace in the recital. The piano is a quintessentially western instrument but it transfers well to the east on this disk.