The most imaginative of these three sexpartite sets of piano duets is the collection entitled From the Bohemian forest, which Dvofak completed early in 1884, two years before his second set of Slavonic Dances. The six pieces, the nimble "In the spinning-rooms", the evocative "By the black lake", the rumbustious "Witches' sabbath", the dramatic "On the watch", the poetic "Silent woods" (probably better known in its later transcription for cello and piano or orchestra), and the fiery "From stormy times", were inspired by the countryside near Vysokâ, the estate of Dvoiik's brother-in-law, where the composer often went walking, sometimes accompanied by his younger friend Jandeek. They are full of contrast and colour, even if, as seems likely, the titles were added later.

The six Characteristic pieces by the legendary pianist and conductor Anton Rubinstein (founder of the St Petersburg Conservatoire), composed in 1854-8, are expertly written salon pieces, aptly described by their titles, "Nocturne", "Scherzo", "Barcarolle", "Capriccio", "Berceuse" and "Marche"—except that only an exceptionally exhausted (or deaf) baby could be lulled to sleep by this at times decidedly animated "Berceuse". Rachmaninov's six Morceaux, composed in 1894, when he was just 21, have had a bad Press (Culshaw: "Insipid.., a veil can conveniently be drawn"; Norris: "Poor pieces, distinguished by neither inventiveness nor skill"). Skill, and bravura, there is in plenty, however, and they are every bit as engaging as Rubinstein's, which, with their self-explanatory titles—"Barcarolle", "Scherzo", "Theme russe", "Valse", "Romance" and "Slays" ("Glory")—they resemble quite closely.

Yaara Tal and Andreas Groethuysen formed their duo in 1985, and the virtuosity of their performances (stunningly captured by the Sony recording) parallels that of their Czerny record enthusiastically reviewed last year (5/91). Musically, this is all fairly small beer; they have also recorded some Reger and a Mendelssohn disc is promised, but the real test will come when they get down to Mozart and Schubert.

-- Gramophone [11/1992]