Duo Spinette-Michiels, pianists
Inge Spinette and
Jan Michiels, put together an inventive program for La Valse à mille temps. It's not just that they chose sets of dances written or transcribed for piano, four hands, from
Franz Schubert to
Wolfgang Rihm, it's also that they intermingle the waltzes, performing part of
Schubert's set of Ländler, D. 366, then a few of
Rihm's Mehrere kurze Walzer, then more of
Schubert's, and so on, with the
Rihm spread throughout. The first of
Rihm's waltzes is very much like one of
Brahms', not at all what one might expect from a contemporary composer whose music is very often hard to describe. Others of
Rihm's waltzes display more modernist (think
Prokofiev or
Satie) harmonies or quirkiness, but their brevity and changing characters fit in delightfully with the carefree nature of the other Viennese dances. Another element that ties these dances of diverse eras together is the instrument that the duo uses, an 1892 Érard. Whereas other performers would restrict the usage of a period instrument to just those pieces that would have been available at the time of the instrument's manufacture (or not too much longer after that), performing the more modern
Richard Strauss,
Ravel, and
Rihm on this piano unites the program. It has a sound that is at once more brusque and more resonant than a 20th century piano, and here gives the overall impression of drawing room entertainment, even in the grandiose La valse. For those who enjoy the dances of
Schubert and
Brahms or waltzes in general, the
Rihm is a welcome addition to the repertoire, and this Duo Spinette-Michiels not-quite-period-practice performance is a charming and agreeable one.