20th Century

Sonja and Shanti Sungkono hail from Jakarta by way of Germany. The 20th Century Piano Duets Collection is their second release for New Classical Adventure. Most of this repertoire is fairly standard stuff for piano duo. Although Colin McPhee's once obscure Balinese Ceremonial Music is gaining ground in the central literature and Raimo Kangro's much later music probably belongs there, the proof here is in the playing, rather than in the pudding or any other factor one might consider. The Sungkonos' Bartók is especially dynamic and engaging, but the whole disc is bursting with enthusiasm and energy from the wild thrill ride that is Kangro's Klimper Op. 20/4 all the way to their dazzling and urgent realization of Danses Andalouses of Manuel Infante.

This collection finds the fascinating video for "Cherish," both a romantic and philosophical song suggestively set in a Utopian afterlife on a beach. "Joanna," possibly the sweetest music video ever, finds the group gracefully serenading a middle-aged waitress as she recalls tender years of being wooed in the 1950s…

This is the premise of Utopia and Terror in the 20th Century. Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius traces the violent history of that era, beginning with its early roots in the American and, especially, the French revolutions. With each passing lecture, you will see how the 20th century's violence was the result of specific historical developments that eventually combined, with explosive results.