Composer: Frederic Rzewski
Performer: Benyamin Nuss
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Berlin Classics
Catalogue: 0302804BC
Release: 2022
Size: 986 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
The People United Will Never Be Defeated
01. Thema
02. Variation 1 – Weaving, Delicate but Firm
03. Variation 2 – With Firmness
04. Variation 3 – Slightly Slower, with Expressive Nuances
05. Variation 4 – Marcato
06. Variation 5 – Dreamlike, Frozen
07. Variation 6 – Same Tempo as Beginning
08. Variation 7 – Tempo (Lightly, Impatiently)
09. Variation 8 – With Agility, Not Too Much Pedal, Crisp
10. Variation 9 – Evenly
11. Variation 10 – Comodo, Recklessly
12. Variation 11 – Tempo I. Like Fragments of an Absent Melody – In Strict Time
13. Variation 12
14. Variation 13
15. Variation 14 – A Bit Faster, Optimistically
16. Variation 15 – Flexible, Like an Improvisation
17. Variation 16 – Same Tempo as Preceding, with Fluctuations, Much Pedal
18. Variation 17 – Left Hand Strictly. Right Hand Freely, Roughly in Space
19. Variation 18
20. Variation 19 – With Energy
21. Variation 20 – Crisp, Precise
22. Variation 21 – Relentless, Uncompromising
23. Variation 22
24. Variation 23 – As Fast as Possible, with Some Rubato
25. Variation 24
26. Variation 25
27. Variation 26 – In a Militant Manner
28. Variation 27 – Tenderly, with a Hopeful Expression – Cadenza
29. Variation 28
30. Variation 29
31. Variation 30
32. Variation 31
33. Variation 32
34. Variation 33
35. Variation 34
36. Variation 35
37. Variation 36
38. Improvisation
39. Thema. Tempo I
40. Improvisation II
41. Improvisation III
North American Ballads
42. I. Dreadful Memories (After Aunt Molly Jackson)
43. II. Which Side Are You On? (After Florence Reese)
44. III. Down by the Riverside
45. IV. Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues
Mayn Yingele
46. Thema. Variation 1 – Espressivo. Variation 2
47. Variation 3 – Espressivo, in Un Tempo Flessibile. Variation 4 – Tempo Giusto. Variation 5
48. Variation 6 – Faster. Variation 7 – Tempo I – Tenderly
49. Variation 8 – Pp Sempre E Staccato. Variation 9. Variation 10 – Meno Mosso, Espressivo
50. Variation 11 – Ancora Meno Mosso
51. Variation 12 – Piu Mosso. Legato, Sussurrato. Variation 13 – Sempre Legato. Mormorando
52. Variation 14 – Sempre Legato, Ma Piu Agitato. Variation 15 – Marcato, Eccitato. Variation 16 – Piu Mosso
53. Variation 17. Variation 18
54. Variation 19 – Piu Mosso. Variation 20 – Ancora Piu Mosso
55. Variation 21 – Meno Mosso
56. Variation 22 – Meno Mosso
57. Variation 23 – Free Tempo, Espressivo
58. Variation 24 – Each Bar Different in Duration from the Preceding One, but Becoming Generally Progressively Longer
Frederic Rzewski was one of the essential contemporary US composers whose death anniversary is approaching for the first time. The German pianist Benyamin Nuss presents three of the most famous works on his new album “Unite!”. Nuss plays in this album the four movements of the North American Ballads and takes you directly into the composer’s sound universe. These pieces tell of the nation’s workers, the downtrodden and oppressed, and illustrate Rzewski’s view of the United States of his time.
The second work of the double album, Mayn Yingele, was written on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Reich Pogrom Night and expressed the pain of a shift worker of that time. Rzewksi’s best-known work, The People United Will Never Be Defeated, closes the album with 36 variations on a Chilean resistance song.
Throughout the album, Nuss impressively demonstrates the technical precision and dedication with which he has fully immersed himself in Rzewski’s works, making “Unite!” one of the most challenging recordings of his entire discography.