The music rightfully feels like a relaxing theatrical ode to a story or physical presentation, a perfectly captured image of exactly what inspired the title, and that self-awareness and consistency helps the natural dynamic and playful evolution of Jester (two pianos) connect and engage with its audience, right the way through.
Pianist
Instantly presenting with the raw purity of a live piano performance, complete with the weight of the keys and the natural reverb from the pedals, The Awakening is quick to intrigue for its sense of melodic originality. We progress through almost 4.5 minutes of music, an explosive mid-section injecting sheer power and tempo and fullness, in between two halves that feel both united in their tuneful direction, and unconfined by the walls of expectation.
Something to listen to at volume, largely for its blissful fusion of intricate detail and soulful expression. An ambient, ethereal journey, blending spiritual warmth and trip hop across an evocative realm of lyrical guidance and meandering sounds. Isaac Garza’s music is a dream and a pleasure to stumble into, and Revolt marks a sublime introduction for those new to his work.
New music from the poetic and distinct corner of creativity that is Ivano Bersini’s compositions – Love is instantly recognisable as Bersini’s style, but at the same time, this is once again a completely new take on the concept of pairing piano and poetry.
Romanian pianist and composer Andrei Irimia astounds with this work. Initially engaging listeners with a profound and emotional piano performance, Fragments soon evolves through a boldly electronic ambiance, an industrial to cinematic sense of drama, to effectively redirect us entirely.
Building up beautifully from intimate and haunting to dramatic and impassioned, its the live aspect of the playing that grips you – the melody is unsettled, sometimes comforting, but for the most part this feels like an outcry on behalf of the soul itself; an artistic manifestation of conflicting emotions and the true vastness of existence.
Musically inspired by JS BACH and Benedetto Marcello, Minuet 5.0 features a solo piano thread descending under vocal harmonies and a softly spoken poem about children.
With words delivered again by Stephanie Rodriguez M, Minuet 5.0 repeats the word ‘children’ throughout, forever reinforcing the innocence at the heart of the writing, and thus heavily juxtaposing this innocence and love with the shattering darkness and devastation of a polluted and desperately broken world.
When the gift of music shines its light through just a solo performance on a single instrument, it holds the power to remind us of the essence of our being – the simplicity of life that can feel far more rewarding and fulfilling than anything overly loud or complex.
Solo pianist and composer Michael Strening Jr. captures precisely that quality, with the easy rise and fall of his melodically and rhythmically evocative Into The Light.
Composer Ube Palomino captures the imaginative freedom of instrumental expression, with the uniquely evocative, intimate to cinematic arrangements of The Hinterlands Suite.
Built around fast yet evocative piano playing from musician Haley Myles, with full orchestral support as things evolve, Concerto for Renaud unites emotional intensity with a distinct and recognisable melodic thread – a haunting but deeply moving progression that’s quickly unmistakable.
Simple by design, complex in the depth of its cinematic, imaginative embrace – composer and pianist Angelo Nicola Giuliano captures the raw essence of intimate piano playing, with the beautifully authentic Whispers Of Love.
Something different – that word we’re always searching for without really knowing what will satisfy it. Enter TK 390, with an intoxicatingly fast-paced classical piano piece, which proves as brief as it is striking and memorable in impact.