Prokofiev: Cinderella Suite; Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye

Two megastar pianists in glittering duo arrangements: this is enthralling

Listening to this inspired disc is like eaves-dropping on two of the great pianists of our time playing for their own pleasure, oblivious of microphones and without a trace of self-consciousness. How Argerich likes to revisit old favourites, here joining with Pletnev to invest Ravel's Mother Goose (which she recorded for DG with Nelson Freire and added exotic percussion, 10/97) with the utmost warmth and playful bravura beneath an insouciant Gallic surface.

But the main attraction is a delectable surprise: Pletnev's arrangement for two pianos of music from Prokofiev's Cinderella, described in Peter Cosse's booklet-note as 'a pianistic pas de deux...that is essentially an appeal — understated and rebellious by turns — on behalf of the oppressed and underprivileged'.

MP3 320 · 110 MB