British pianist-composer Graham Fitkin has written extensively for the piano and this release explores the various forms his involvement with the instrument can take, dominated by works for multiple pianists. He is essentially a post-minimalist, excited by the frieght train clamour of repeated rhythmic cells, but the fearsome energy he harnasses, fuelling myriad restless and idiosynchratic diversions, overcome the tedious assumptions that tag can invoke.
Throughout the two player pieces presented here Fitkin is concerned less with establishing dialogue than in creating synthesis, the duel instruments blending to increase the percussive power and harmonic capabilities of the piano. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to disinguish pianists Kathryn Stott ( a longtime Fitkin collaborator) from Noriko Ogawa (BIS label house pianist, with a wide repertoire from Mozart to Takemitsu), their four hands fusing into a kind of hammering octopus. This is most effectively displayed on the title work, where their propulsion is egged on by the orchestra’s own pumping mechanics. Here, it’s the vicious drama of the fast movements that most excites, but calmer moods are also effectively delivered, and allow for moments of breath-catching typical of traditional concerto form. Working here with the Tokyo Symphony, the SACD sound is so meticulously recorded as to approach a Raster Noton level of precision.
The chamber pieces offer further evidence of Fitkin’s affinity with the piano, particularly his interest in establishing duel-like relationships. ‘Yellow to Yellow’, the earliest piece here, is also the most subdued, spare patterns of notes fleetingly appearing, leaving traces of dusty shadow in their wake.
Joshua Meggitt
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