Gramophone Magazine
April 2023
Editor's Choice

Frank Dupree (piano), Adrian Brendle (piano), Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Dominik Beykirch

Kapustin: Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 72
Kapustin: Concerto for two pianos & percussion, op. 104
Kapustin: Sinfonietta, Op. 49

When western audiences discovered the music of Nikolai Kapustin, they were truly shocked: Who was this Soviet (!) composer, whose music sounded more like an Oscar Peterson improvisation than anything else – but who wrote detailed scores, black with notes? As we discover more and more of his music (and there’s so much more yet to discover), a very distinct, always wholly charming voice emerges, whether in a freewheeling outright-jazzy work like his Concerto for 2 Pianos and Percussion, the more symphonic Fifth Piano Concerto, or the frisky Sinfonietta which transports us into a smoky 1940s bar in Manhattan.

"For Dupree, it’s a jog in the park. The fluency and rhythmic élan on display throughout this disc are the kind that make you smile and shake your head in disbelief." - Gramophone Magazine, April 2023.