A precocious Alexander Kostantinovich Glazunov at 16 took the Russian concert scene by storm. The teenage composer had plentiful musical ideas, a full mastery of form and enviable skill in orchestration, certainly influenced by his teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov. However, unlike his predecessors, the “Mighty Handful”, Glazunov lived through the political unrest that ultimately led to the Russian revolution and to communism. His directorship of the St Petersburg Conservatoire straddled Tsarism and the first years of communist rule, yet ultimately his Russian musical ideal did not correspond to that of Soviet music (nor did his ideal of Russian life correspond to Soviet life). He consequently he fled the USSR, finding refuge in Western Europe, and Glazunov can now be counted among those unjustly neglected artists whose national pre-eminence was unseated by exile.

This double album for Brilliant Classics is therefore particularly welcome, shedding new light on Glazunov’s compositional output for piano duet. All but one of the works recorded here also exist in orchestral versions, but they are not necessarily derivative arrangements or reductions: it is not always easy to determine which version came first. The Fantasy, op.104, is the lone work on this programme explicitly conceived for two pianos.

Given Glazunov’s ability as an orchestrator, one might doubt the value of these piano versions as mere black-and-white sketches of original, colourful paintings. This is far from the case, as this recording demonstrates. Glazunov’s mastery of colours and voicings extends to the piano as well; the existence of the composer’s own orchestration can inform the pianists’ interpretive choices; and the sobriety of the piano version can highlight musical details that might go unnoticed in the lush orchestral treatment.

The Duo Fabrizio Datteri and Nadia Lencioni attended a master class held by Bruno Canino and summer courses held by Aquiles delle Vigne at the Mozarteum of Salzburg, where they were also invited to play in the Wiener Saal. In 2002 they graduated at the Accademia Pianistica Internazionale Incontri col Maestro di Imola with the special award “Master”.