Rimsky Korsakov - Piano Duos - The Scotsman

For a composer best-known for his skills as an orchestrator, this piano duo version of some of his most celebrated orchestral works presents Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in a very different light. Two of the arrangements are by the composer himself - Scheherazade and Capriccio Espagnol - while Sadko is performed in a version by his wife, the pianist Nadezhda Nikolayevna.

Hearing these played by piano duo Artur Pizarro and Vita Panomariovaite inevitably strips the music of much of its heat, but the upside is in witnessing Rimsky-Korsakov's lyrical invention and the mechanics of his music more readily. Pizarro and Panomariovaite deliver their performances with generous panache which is never exaggerated and rarely forced. The broad expressive range of Sadko is impressively covered. But ultimately this music lives more naturally in the context it was written for - a full-blown symphony orchestra.