A Piano Duo from Hawaii — Masterful
Kaoru Tajima and Paul Lyddon in the Presentation Hall of Oldenburg University Library

By Richard Kamp, translated by R. D. Trimillos

December 21, 1993

Oldenburg. The Japanese Kaoru Tajima and the American Paul Lyddon, who is a Professor at the University of Manoa (Honolulu), have performed as a piano duo for ten years. Unfortunately only a small group of listeners at this afternoon concert in the University library were witness to their ensemble perfection evident in the technical as well as the conceptual aspects.

Four-hand piano playing was a particularly favorite kind of performance for home music in the 19th Century. The program offered two notable works for this setting: Debussy's "Six Epigraphes Antiques" are six tiny jewels, a result of the meeting of great Impressionists with the spirit of antiquity—precisely like "Syrinx" and "Prelude a l'apresmidi d'un Faune." The pianistic interpretation presented the aloof, cool clarity of Debussy's sophisticated artistry; the dynamics were finely nuanced and all challenges of playing technique were thoroughly mastered.

The announcement of the second work in the program was initially a shock: the A-minor String Quartet by Brahms in piano version? This limpid flow of string music could certainly not be realised with piano! However, the playing of both artists, which was very focussed, taught this conventional audience otherwise. Brahms himself had arranged four-hand piano versions of his three string quartets, published by an American press.

It is not simply a direct transfer to the piano. With its octaves, voice doublings and massive chords, it has practically become a new composition. Without acknowledging the imprint of the pianistic Brahms, no arranger other than the composer could have allowed himself so much freedom. It is no longer the string quartet, but it is still genuine Brahms.

Rounding out the program with a folk-like musical joyousness was Dvorak's romantic character pieces "From the Bohemian Forest." The American pianists sensitively portrayed its folkloric as well as its fantastic and its nature-related qualities. It was a concert that testified to a great understanding of the diverse sources for European music.