Alas that after such near-ideal performances Gallina Ustvolskaya, Gubaidulina's senior by 12 years, and a tenderly regarded pupil of Shostakovich, should have such a poor deal: not in terms of the choice of work, for Grand (Bolshoi) Duet can hold its own against the stranger meeting of In croce. What Beiser and her pianist, Christopher Oldfather, have done is to go through the score virtually striking out the more extreme dynamics; and since the piece depends on its relentless smatterings of ffff throughout the first four movements in order for the (mostly) quiescent finale to make its effect, the point is lost - especially in the wild fourth movement, here played pointedly at mf throughout. When there is no wildness, there can be no transcendence; and though Beiser offers some highly expressive legato playing in the long fifth movement, it's not quite as withdrawn as Ustvolskaya asks until the closing stages of the work. In other words, I still very much want to hear the Grand Duet as it should be heard.

DN
(From: Gramophone, November 1995)