It is my privilege to partner a new Myrios Classics CD: Mozart’s two most important four-hand piano sonatas, importantly performed by Kirill Gerstein and Ferenc Rados. Gerstein customizes his Myrios recordings in exceptional ways. Three years ago, he invited me to contextualize his Gershwin CD via “The Gershwin Moment.” His new Mozart CD comes with a 40-page booklet … [Read more...] about Inimitable
A Soldier’s Tale for Today — Premiered
In PostClassical Ensemble’s new version of Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale, a “cautionary fable” for today, the Soldier weds the Princess – and the narrator continues: But where’s the fiddle – which won the bride? It was not to be found inside And the Devil, where is he? Awaiting the Soldier – naturally. With the instrument in hand, He played, his … [Read more...] about A Soldier’s Tale for Today — Premiered
A Soldier’s Tale for Today
In the wake of World War I, Igor Stravinsky was living in Switzerland, cut off from his family estate in Russia. He was receiving no royalties from his publisher in Berlin. Stage performances of his music by Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe were very infrequent. His concert works were virtually dormant. With the Swiss writer C. F. Ramuz, he conceived a small, portable entertainment, … [Read more...] about A Soldier’s Tale for Today
A Gripping New Version of The Rite of Spring
Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring might at first glance seem an unlikely candidate for keyboard transcription. It calls for a huge orchestra, colorfully deployed. But the percussive ferocity of the writing, its sheer physicality, is an irresistible lure for pianists. Stravinsky himself left a piano-duet version. It’s actually the first version, part of the … [Read more...] about A Gripping New Version of The Rite of Spring
Savage Beauty
One of the highest achievements in present-day world music is the Chinese-American fusion. It is wondrously explicable. China’s seismic political and cultural upheavals produced an earthquake of creativity. Conservatory-bound composers wound up on the countryside, absorbing folk music styles exploring timbre in ways they had never imagined. And – following Chinese speech, in … [Read more...] about Savage Beauty