Composer: Alban Berg, Charles Ives, Anton Webern
Performer: Alexei Lubimov, Marianne Henkel
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Zigzag
Catalogue: ZZT362
Release: 2015
Size: 539 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 19 ‘Concord, Mass., 1840-1860’
01. I. Emerson
02. II. Hawthorne
03. III. The Alcotts
04. IV. Thoreau
Webern: Variations, Op. 27
05. I. Sehr mäßig
06. II. Sehr schnell
07. III. Ruhig fließend
08. Berg: Piano Sonata in B Minor, Op. 1: Mäßig bewegt
Alexei Lubimov is a very great pianist and an authentically eclectic musician. Close to the music of today – he has played and recorded works by many contemporary composers and founded the Alternativa festival in Moscow, he is also impassioned by early instruments and Baroque music, as well as by all the music in between.
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This new recording stages the encounter of music of the Second Vienna School with that of the American Charles Ives. And this time, Alexei Lubimov has chosen to play on a modern instrument.
Lest anyone think modernist piano pieces all sound the same or operate on the same premises, Alexei Lubimov has chosen a program of key works that are not only quite varied in style, content, and expression, but are distinctive because of their originality. Charles Ives’ iconoclastic Piano Sonata No. 2, “Concord, Mass., 1840-60,” is an excellent example of his method of freely juxtaposing chaotic dissonances and jagged rhythms with raucous quotations of popular melodies and hymn tunes, in a spirit of rugged American individualism. To contrast this sonata, Lubimov has selected works from the Second Viennese School, to demonstrate the approaches taken by Anton Webern in his dodecaphonic Piano Variations, and Alban Berg in his loosely atonal Piano Sonata, Op. 1. Where Webern strives for a delicate balance of pitches and a purity of ideas, Berg’s music is intensely emotional, languid, and unsettled, and these characteristics show that their approaches diverged as much from each other as they did from Ives. Lubimov’s playing is sensitive and sympathetic, and his clear interpretations make this album something of a revelation, even for those who know these pieces well. To be sure, they are still challenging today, many decades after they were written, and they are enjoyed most by well-informed and adventurous listeners. Lubimov provides a fine introduction to these landmarks of modernism, and this exceptional disc from Zig Zag Territoires and Outhere Music is highly recommended.