Should you adhere to the belief that musicians should only play exactly what a composer writes, then read no further. Looking at the cover you might suppose that it is one of those record-making piano orchestras, with twelve pianos corresponding to 'The Twelve Pianists'. Not so. This group works on two or three pianos, with the twelve parts distributed around the instruments, some seated at the keyboards, others, who pluck or use long-sticked percussion hammers, stand around the body of the pianos and play the strings directly, as if they were giant horizontal harps.

As the booklet says, "The 12 Pianists" are indeed a unique piano ensemble. Choreographic efforts are necessary to always put 24 arms with 120 fingers in the right places - right keys or right strings - and this must be a spectacular sight for an audience. The group developed from a four person membership in 1996 to the present 12 members, stimulated by the leader Christoph Sischka's arrangement of Lavignak's Galop-March for 12 pianists on one piano. This earned the group an entry in the Guinness Book of Records in 2002!

The group's members come from Germany, Russia, Japan and Egypt, former students of Prof. Isao Nakamura at the University of Music at Karlsruhe. They are all employed in orchestras or work as freelance musicians. Immediately one hears them playing, it is obvious that their form of music-making is not a gimmick, as they are highly talented and devoted to applying their creativity to the service of the music. The pianism is at a very high concert level, all the more astonishing because effects like very fast long scales may involve the athleticism of several adjoining players passing the notes down the line smoothly.

The major work on the disk is Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition', one of the most difficult of piano pieces but often heard in Ravel's brilliant orchestration. Noriko Ishikawa, one of The Twelve, produced an arrangement for 2 pianos, 12 hands and 4 percussionists. Added personnel are supplied by Karlsruher Percussion Ensemble, wielding a range of 20 instruments from tiny tinkling bells to large drums and a TamTam. The inherently percussive piano of Musssorgsky's original version melds very well with the real percussion.

Ishikawa's idea was to capture and enhance Mussorgsky's vivid musical depictions of the atmosphere and contents of Hartmann's paintings, and an almost symphonic sound resulting from the whole ensemble is very effective in doing so. The more chilling pictures such as Gnomus, The Old Castle and Con mortuis are very scary, not just with sudden loud eruptions but with very soft and subtle sounds provided by instruments such as a suspended plant pot tuned to G, and rubbing a very soft ball over the surface of a TamTam. Samuel and Schmuyle argue continually and with vitriol, but the little children running around Tuileries are full of zest and mischief (xylophone and rattle added to the pianos). The final portrayal of the Gate at Kiev is truly grandioso with real bells and big drums and 24-hand piano super-chords. For listeners who are very familiar with Mussorgsky's piece, orchestral or piano, there are many insights which make the new view of "The 12 Pianists" very enjoyable and memorable.

The rest of the programme is for the pianists, in various configurations. Yossitov's 'Toccata' excitingly visits Bulgarian folk tunes in a modern framework, Schnyder's 'Arabian Overture' for 2 pianos and 12 hands is modernistic but veined with Middle Easter themes and some jazzy rhythms. Turek's 'Kein Liebeslied' (Not a Love Song) is a cool version of a familiar song but brings in an extra piano. These are all living composers (Turek is a member of "The 12").

Bizet's Habanera from 'Carmen Fantasie' is wonderfully rhythmic, given Spanish flavour with tambourines and castanets. It falls to Rossini and his 'William Tell' Overture arranged by Ferdinand Wrede to bring the concert to a conclusion (2 pianos, 8 hands) which is simply superb, crying out for a re-run after its first playing.

Ars Classics provide a recording full of detail and renders the colourful instrumentation with aplomb. The two pianos dialogue from front left to front right, and some of the percussion seem to extend into the listening room in multichannel, my system also seeming to place the third piano behind the listener. The venue doesn't provide an obvious ambience, but the piano sound is not too closely recorded.

This is a wildly imaginative view of the chosen pieces, which in lesser hands could be a disaster. Here, however, the piano sounds which emerge from application of 24 hands are quite unique and thrilling, and the superbly co-ordinated percussion enhances in a very special way. Putting it simply, this is a disc which will give you a lot of fun, and you will want to hear it over and over again, picking up more and more of the subtle detail which is presented.

Copyright © 2014 John Miller and HRAudio.net

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