Glistening Pianos is a special disc devoted to music written especially for two pianos, featuring Duo Piano 2X10: Midori Koga and Lydia Wong, with guest artists Susan Hoeppner (flute) and Adam Campbell (percussion).
The selected works in this CD, dated from 1992 to 2011, offer a colorful selection of piano music of contrasting styles and distinctive conceptual edifice; chosen repertoire also displays some unusual technical approaches and exceptional challenges in the writing for two pianos. Glistening Pianos includes two works of unique instrumental combination: two pianos with flute (Chain of Being), and two pianos with percussion, voice, and electronics (War!). The entire selection of works is carefully organized in a specific collation to convey a poetic thematic design. Glistening Pianos is based on quotations from G. Byron’s poem “She Walks in Beauty,” Heart to Heart has a structural and emotional reference to E. Dickenson’s poem “Have you got a little brook in your heart,” War! fuses original composed rap text with virtuosic instrumental playing to detest war and Chain of Being reflects some aspects of spiritual view of beauty in Western philosophy. An Eastern Apparition, on the opposite sphere, presents a dramatic narrative of opposing forces “Yin” and “Yang” in Chinese philosophy. Both Glistening Pianos and Heart to Heart are commissioned and written especially for Duo Piano 2X10. The entire program of the disc showcases the astonishing musicality and virtuosity of the piano duo and guest instrumentalists.
TRACK LIST:
1. Glistening Pianos (15:43)
2. Chain of Being (11:16)
3. An Eastern Apparition (11:22)
4. War! (7:24)
5. Heart to Heart (11:20)
PERFORMERS:
Midori Koga
Lydia Wong
Susan Hoeppner
Adam Campbell
The production of this album was graciously supported by FACTOR. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters.
REVIEWS:
“Glistening Pianos is an important addition to Alice Ping Yee Ho’s discography. The selections give a good sense of her range as a composer for small groups of instruments and her skill in writing for the piano. Long a mainstay of the concert world, the piano duet is once again shown to be alive and well as a medium of contemporary expression in the hands of performers as
capable as Wong and Koga. Producer David Jaeger has drawn inspired performances from all four of the artists on the recording. Recording engineer Peter Olsen’s sound has both depth and clarity.” – Brian C. Thompson, CAML Review
This recording generously supported by:
This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters. / Ce projet est financé en partie par FACTOR, le gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada.
