Title: Four Hands. Two Hearts. One Hope Artist: Anastasiia Larchikova Label: Reference Recordings Product Type: COMPACT DISCS UPC: 030911176228 Genre: Classical Artists Release Date: 2025-08-22 Number of Discs: 1
Ukrainian and American Music for Piano Duo, performed by Ukrainian artists Anastasiia Larchikova and Mykhailo Diordiiev. These two young pianists perform a splendid program of half Ukrainian/half American compositions, all contemporary and all very accessible. On the American side the album has John Corigliano's "Gazebo Dances", Ricky Ian Gordon's "Ring-A-Ding-Ding", and a world premiere recording of Lowell Liebermann's "Romance, Etude and Chorale, Op. 134". This is the centerpiece of the album, and it is a stunning work that was commissioned by Steinway as a wedding present to Lang Lang. The Ukrainian music features "Carpathian Song" by Zoltan Almashi, composer, cellist and winner of the Lev Revultsky Prize in 2003; "Three Extravagant Dances" by the late Myroslav Skoryk, who was awarded the titles "The People's Artist" and "Hero of Ukraine", and whose music contains stylistic traits from Ukrainian folk music; and lastly "Ru-um-bambar" by Bohdan Sehin, who studied with M. Skoryk and whose music is highly textured, with Eastern European expressiveness. Proceeds from this album will be donated to Ukraine humanitarian aid organizations.
Tracks: 1.1 Carpathian Song 1.2 Gazebo Dances~I. Overture 1.3 Gazebo Dances~II. Waltz 1.4 Gazebo Dances~III. Adagio 1.5 Gazebo Dances~IV. Tarantella 1.6 Three Extravagant Dances~I. Entrance and Dance... almost Hispano-Moresque 1.7 Three Extravagant Dances~II. Blues... almost American 1.8 Three Extravagant Dances~III. Can-can... as if from an old gramolphone record 1.9 Romance, Etude and Chorale, Op. 134~I. Romance and Etude 1.10 Romance, Etude and Chorale, Op. 134~II. Chorale 1.11 Ru-um-bambar 1.12 Ring-A-Ding-Ding
