Prokofiev — Pärt — Schnittke
Natascia Gazzana (violin), Raffaella Gazzana (piano), Duo Gazzana
a sign of real interpretive strength from the duo… Pärt’s work requires a sort of engagement through detachment at the very least; it gets that here… It’s the sisters’ mode of playing… that...
Prokofiev — Pärt — Schnittke
Natascia Gazzana (violin), Raffaella Gazzana (piano), Duo Gazzana
Purchase product
a sign of real interpretive strength from the duo… Pärt’s work requires a sort of engagement through detachment at the very least; it gets that here… It’s the sisters’ mode of playing… that...
About
Their last album with works by Schumann, Grieg and Tõnu Kõrvits saw the Gazzana sisters Natascia and Raffaella “achieve the highest levels of instinctive expression” , according to the French daily paper Le Monde, and one could argue that this holds even more true for their new recording with music by Sergei Prokofiev, Arvo Pärt and Alfred Schnittke.
The duo’s reading of Prokofiev’s "Sonata No. 1, op. 80" opens the proceedings with urgency, true to the composer’s intention (Prokofiev famously declared that a particular passage "should sound in such a way that people should jump in their seat… ”), but also with lyrical serenity, casting the work’s third movement in a spellbinding light. His "Five Melodies op. 35a" are interpreted with equal conviction, while Pärt’s "Spiegel im Spiegel" , performed with poise and humility, serves as a thoughtful respite.
Concluding the programme is Schnittke’s "Gratulationsrondo" – a celebratory piece that finds the composer circumventing his usual polystylistic ways and instead excelling in a more traditional approach to the classical idiom. Recorded at the Reitstadel, Neumarkt in February 2025, the album was produced by Manfred Eicher.
Contents and tracklist
- Natascia Gazzana (violin), Raffaella Gazzana (piano)
- Duo Gazzana
- Recorded: 2025-02-15
- Recording Venue: Reitstadel, Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz
- Natascia Gazzana (violin), Raffaella Gazzana (piano)
- Duo Gazzana
- Recorded: 2025-02-15
- Recording Venue: Reitstadel, Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz
- Natascia Gazzana (violin), Raffaella Gazzana (piano)
- Duo Gazzana
- Recorded: 2025-02-15
- Recording Venue: Reitstadel, Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz
- Natascia Gazzana (violin), Raffaella Gazzana (piano)
- Duo Gazzana
- Recorded: 2025-02-15
- Recording Venue: Reitstadel, Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz
Awards and reviews
June 2026
a sign of real interpretive strength from the duo… Pärt’s work requires a sort of engagement through detachment at the very least; it gets that here… It’s the sisters’ mode of playing… that means Prokofiev’s Five Melodies sounds almost as catharsis