Transatlantiques Gershwin Piano Quartet

• Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943): 14 Romances, Op. 34:
• 1 Rachmaninoff: 14 Romances, Op. 34: No. 14, Vocalise (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Benjamin Engeli) 06:34
• Suite No. 2 in C Minor for 2 Pianos, Op. 17:
• 2 Rachmaninoff: Suite No. 2 in C Minor for 2 Pianos, Op. 17: IV. Tarantella (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Benjamin Engeli) 05:31
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893): The Nutcracker Suite:
• 3 Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a, TH. 35: No. 1, Miniature Overture (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Stefan Wirth) 03:06
• 4 Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, Op. 71, TH 14, Act I Scene 2: No. 8, In the Pine Forest in Winter (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Benjamin Engeli) 07:20
• 5 Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a, TH. 35: IIf. Dance of the Mirlitons (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Benjamin Engeli)li) 01:31
• 6 Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a, TH. 35: III. Waltz of the Flowers (Arr. for 4 Pianos by André Desponds) 05:06
• 7 Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a, TH. 35: IIa. Minimal March (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Mischa Cheung) 01:10
• 8 Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a, TH. 35: IIc. Russian Dance "Trépak" (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Mischa Cheung) 01:16
• Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Lieutenant Kijé, Op. 60:
• 9 Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kijé, Op. 60: I. Birth of Kijé (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Mischa Cheung) 02:27
• 10 Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kijé, Op. 60: II. Romance (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Mischa Cheung) 04:08
• 11 Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kijé, Op. 60: IV. Troika (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Mischa Cheung) 03:49
• George Gershwin (1898 - 1937): Fantasy on „Porgy & Bess“:
• 12 Gershwin: Fantasy on „Porgy & Bess“, Act I Scene 1: Introduction (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Benjamin Engeli & Stefan Wirth) 01:26
• 13 Gershwin: Fantasy on „Porgy & Bess“, Act II Scene 2: It Ain't Necessarily So (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Benjamin Engeli & Stefan Wirth) 03:25
• 14 Gershwin: Fantasy on „Porgy & Bess“: Rumble (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Benjamin Engeli & Stefan Wirth) 01:24
• 15 Gershwin: Fantasy on „Porgy & Bess“, Act I Scene 2: My Man’s Gone Now (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Benjamin Engeli & Stefan Wirth) 02:55
• 16 Gershwin: Fantasy on „Porgy & Bess“, Act II Scene 3: Interlude (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Benjamin Engeli & Stefan Wirth) 01:10
• 17 Gershwin: Fantasy on "Porgy & Bess", Act II Scene 1: Oh, I can't sit down (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Benjamin Engeli & Stefan Wirth) 01:34
• 18 Gershwin: Fantasy on "Porgy & Bess", Act II Scene 3: I loves you, Porgy (Arr. for 4 Pianos Benjamin Engeli & Stefan Wirth) 03:01
• 19 Gershwin: Fantasy on "Porgy & Bess", Act I Scene 2: Oh! The Train is at the Station (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Benjamin Engeli & Stefan Wirth) 04:05
• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921): Danse macabre, Op. 40:
• 20 Saint-Saëns: Danse macabre, Op. 40 (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Benjamin Engeli) (48kHz) 09:13
• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 - 1908): Scheherazade reloaded for (almost) 1001 Strings:
• 21 Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade reloaded for (almost) 1001 Strings (Arr. for 4 Pianos by Mischa Cheung) (48kHz) 09:10
• Total Runtime 01:19:21

Info for Transatlantiques

The Gershwin Piano Quartet - 4 pianists on 4 grand pianos - play, arrange and improvise. In their repertoire, the four Swiss musicians do not limit themselves to the music of their namesake George Gershwin, but also relate it to other important works from the 19th or early 20th century. For example, on the new album "Transatlantiques" with Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" suite, with three pieces from the suite to "Lieutenant Kijé" by Sergei Prokofieff or with Leonard Bernstein and his "West Side Story". In this way, the diverse interactions between the old and the new world, between classical music and jazz, classical ballet and Broadway shows become tangible and make for a varied, highly virtuoso piano album. As a "bonus", there is also a rousing arrangement of the Michael Jackson hit "Bad". The Gershwin Piano Quartet was founded in 1996 by André Desponds. It presents its programs with great success and impressive media resonance throughout Europe, South America, Canada, China and the Middle East.

Mischa Cheung, piano
André Desponds, piano
Benjamin Engeli, piano
Stefan Wirth, piano

The Gershwin Piano Quartet
is a formation of four pianists performing their own arrangements of classics from numerous musical traditions on four grand pianos. Their musical approach combines classical virtuosity with a jazz-based improvisatory idiom. The concerts of the Gershwin Piano Quartet run the whole gamut from lyrical introspection to irresistibly pulse-driven music and have been met with thunderous acclaim around the world.

The central focus of the group lies in creating very personal visions of the selected pieces that exceed the limits of pure transcription to include recomposition, improvisation and remixing techniques.

André Desponds founded the Gershwin Piano Quartet in Zurich, Switzerland in 1996. In their first concerts the group concentrated mainly on the music of George Gershwin, which still features prominently in their repertoire. Over the course of the last years, the ensemble has constantly expanded its stylistic outlook to include music as diverse as Rimski-Korsakov’s «Scheherazade» in a recomposed version with multiple loops and extended piano techniques, a compressed two-movement version of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, a polytonal reworking of Astor Piazolla’s «Tango-Fugue» from «Maria de Buenos Aires», as well as a complete version of George Gershwin’s «Concerto in F» with many improvisations added on.

The Gershwin Piano Quartet has performed in numerous venues around the world such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (Germany), the Piano Festival Ruhr (Germany), the KKL Lucern (Switzerland), the Tonhalle Zürich (Switzerland), the National Palace of Culture Sofia (Bulgaria), the National Center for the Performing Arts (China) and the Sala Sao Paolo (Brazil) amongst others.

This album contains no booklet.