Franziska Lee and Gryta Tatorytė

Maurice Ravel from » Miroirs «: III. Une barque sur l'Océan
Claude Debussy from » Préludes« Livre II: Feux d'artifice
Henri Dutilleux from » Sonate pour piano «: III. Choral et variations
Maurice Ravel from » Ma mère l'Oye «: III. Laideronnette, impératrice des pagodes
Emmanuel Chabrier Trois valses romantiques for two pianos
Francis Poulenc Sonate for two pianos
Maurice Ravel  » La Valse « for two pianos

A flood of broken chords rocks the boat in Une barque sur l'Océan; a firework of colours and light effects follows with Debussy's Feux d'artifice. Dutilleux's Choral et variations have a partly toccata-like character; the chinoiserie Laideronnette, impératrice des pagodes from Ravel's poetic fairy-tale pieces Ma mère l'Oye has a delicate effect. Chabrier's publisher feared that the cheerfully ironic Trois valses romantiques would be too difficult to sell, but the composer hoped for "young ladies who play the piano seriously". In Francis Poulenc's opulent Sonata for Two Pianos, the prologue and epilogue roughly correspond. With Maurice Ravel's La Valse, the apotheosis of the Viennese waltz, which is actually composed for a giant orchestra, the pas de deux for 20 fingers comes to a virtuoso end. In Ravel's version for two pianos, the motoric nature of this apocalyptic waltz comes to the fore.