Dutch Masters’ is all about Dutch composers. “Everyone knows the names Bach, Mozart or Beethoven, but we also have plenty of lesser-known home-grown composers who have produced many beautiful works”, say the piano brothers. The album is therefore an ode to Dutch composers, but also to pianist and teacher Ton Hartsuiker, who put them on the track of modern Dutch music from an early age. For this album, Lucas and Arthur Jussen made a selection of pieces for two pianos and piano quatre-mains from the 20th and 21st century, by Dutch composers Louis Andriessen, Leo Smit, Willem Pijper, Jan Wisse and Hans Henkemans. The album also features two works that were composed especially for the two brothers. Theo Loevendie wrote ‘Together’ for them and Joey Roukens the Concert for Two Pianos ‘In Unison’. According to the Jussens “both are masterpieces”. This album contains the world premiere recording of these two compositions, as well as those by Jan Wisse and Hans Henkemans.
(Merlijn Kerkhof:)
It is rare in the Netherlands that an orchestral work is performed again just a few years after its premiere. But that Joey Roukens’ concerto for two pianos would soon be back on the music stands, that was bound to happen. In Unison, written for Lucas and Arthur Jussen, proved in 2018 to be a lush, energetic piece of international stature, serving both head and stomach. A performance in TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht followed at the end of last year, again with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, now conducted by Karina Canellakis.
The registration of this is on the new Jussen double CD, Dutch Masters. The project is a tribute to Ton Hartsuiker (1933-2015), the pedagogue who put the brothers on the trail of Dutch modern composers. The first CD offers a nice overview of duo pieces from the polder. The Sonata for two pianos (1935) by Willem Pijper has balls and the Jussens play it nice and lumpy, the strongly French orientated Divertimento by Leo Smit (1942) brings out the best in them. With the captivating Cristalli (1959) by Jan Wisse and Séries (1958) by the then still atonally writing Louis Andriessen, the Jussens stick their necks out. It pays off: this is their strongest album.
Willem Pijper(1894-1947):Â Sonata for 2 pianos (1935)
Louis Andriessen (1939-2021): Séries (1958)
Leo Smit(1900-1943):Â Divertimento (1942)
Composers in the crosshairs of our attention