Ethereal, evocative, driving, even dancy and cheeky – Ings is a two-hour adventure in piano music that ranges from the spiritual and sacred to blues, boogies and jazz – from the Catholic vision of Messiaen and the cosmic Star Filled Night of Alexina Louie, to Henry Cowell’s invocative Ings, and to the jazzy east-west blending of Masamitsu Takahashi’s Capriccio for Piano, devilish boogies and ragtime by Bill Westcott, and the virtuosic jazz of Art Tatum. Performances were all recorded for CBC Radio broadcast in recent years by award-winning pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico, student of legendary teachers and composers of the 20th century. The piano music of the 20th and early 21st centuries could not find a more convincing advocate!
“Madame Petrowska-Quilico, an accomplished artist, is a reliable guide to this repertoire, which she has made her own. Her pianism is stylish, her technique well-honed, and the sound firm and bright. The interpretive qualities are on the same impressive level: not shy of plunging into difficulty, the artist does so with a confident sureness of touch. These pieces, so diverse in origin, are brought vividly to life, and each given loving treatment. The musicality is deft and knowing, and the intelligence informing the performances generous and warm.”
– J.H. Stape, reviewVancouver
“I’d like to say how impressed I was with the programming of this set. From its opening track, Ann Southam’s hypnotically beautiful Glass Houses, to the close almost two and half hours later with Omar Daniel’s Surfacing, the journey is a diverse, well-paced and extremely well-executed one that spans the work of fifteen 20th century composers, including four Canadians.”
– David Olds, Wholenote
“Amazing, for the amount of virtuosity and variety Petrowska Quilico has squeezed onto a mere two discs.”
– Elissa Poole, Toronto Star
“What is perhaps the most markedly impressive aspect of this collection is the fantastic energy that Petrowska Quilico brings to even the most distant musical extreme without compromising her technique. The dynamic range of sensitivity and boldness that she brings to every piece on this album is truly remarkable. This is a terrific example of the human energy that is at the core of all music, and that is often lost in the face of extended techniques, new notations, and philosophical abstractions.”
– Michael Berger, CAML Review
Videos:
Christina Petrowska Quilico performs Glass Houses by Ann Southam
Christina Petrowsja Quilico performs Sonatina by Sid Robinovitch
Visit Christinas’s web site at: http://www.petrowskaquilico.com
CD1
ANN SOUTHAM
1. Glass Houses
GAVIN BRYARS
2. After Handel’s “Vesper”
OLIVIER MESSIAEN
3. Première communion de la Vierge
PIERRE BOULEZ
4. Première Sonate
DAVID JAEGER
5. Quivi Sospiri
ALEXINA LOUIE
6. Star Filled Night
TORU TAKEMITSU
7. Les yeux clos
LOWELL LIEBERMANN
8-11. Apparitions
CD2
HENRY COWELL
1-6. Six Ings
DAVID DEL TREDICI
7-10. Fantasy Pieces
FREDERIC RZEWSKI
11. Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues
MASAMITSU TAKAHASHI
12. Capriccio for Piano
BILL WESTCOTT
13-16. Suite
ART TATUM
17. I’ll Never Be the Same
18. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
OMAR DANIEL
19. Surfacing
