BriGHT CIRCLE
Schubert | Brahms | DEL Tredici
Beth Levin Piano
OVERVIEW
BRIGHT CIRCLE is an exquisitely programmed showcase of the interconnectivity underlying the tradition of solo piano in Classical music. Pianist Beth Levin shines as she navigates the romantic masterpieces of Schubert and Brahms, and their very new counterpart – David Del Tredici’s 2014 work, Ode To Music.
Levin’s performance is particularly remarkable in the way she places the Del Tredici within the context of Schubert’s Piano Sonata No. 20 and Brahms’ Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel. Del Tredici’s music is an excellent choice to be set alongside two romantic stalwarts, as it aims to recapture the expressive language of nineteenth century European composers.
Beyond this general association, all three works on BRIGHT CIRCLE truly are kindred spirits. Schubert and Brahms belong to the same tradition of German romanticism that arose and matured in the early- and mid-nineteenth century. Ode to Music is a fantasy on Schubert’s art song An die Musik. Essentially, BRIGHT CIRCLE is defined by music that takes older ideas and reconstitutes them in a new, transformative setting. This is certainly the case with Brahms’ Variations, which serves as BRIGHT CIRCLE’s backbone.
By the time Brahms set to work on this piece in the late 1850s, large sets of variations for piano were a common form for Romantic composers to flex their muscles. However, Brahms departed from the grandeur typical of these precedents – namely, Beethoven’s famed Diabelli Variations – and challenged himself to study and assimilate aspects of Baroque forms into his treatment of Handel’s theme. The melody at the heart of the variations originated in a work for harpsichord, and Brahms’ appreciation of this fact is evident in restrained virtuosity of his piano writing.
HIGHLIGHTS
This album is full of homage – Brahms borrowing from Handel, and Del Tredici borrows from Schubert in Ode to Music
This album offers a unique opportunity to make a side-by-side comparison between the late contemporary, neo-romantic style of Del Tredici’s music with the original nineteenth century aesthetic that inspires it
Debuting as a child prodigy with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age twelve, Levin was subsequently taught and guided by legendary pianists such as Rudolf Serkin, Leonard Shure and Dorothy Taubman, Another of her teachers, Paul Badura-Skoda, praised Levin as a pianist of rare qualities and the highest professional caliber
“Levin plays with a rare percussive audacity, making notes and phrases that usually rush by in the background stand out in high relief.” - The New Yorker
Levin has appeared as a concerto soloist with numerous symphony orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Boston Civic Symphony and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra
ALSO ON NAVONA
(NV6024) CELLO MUSIC FROM
Beethoven | Schnabel | Moór
(NV6016) PERSONAE
Beth Levin
(NV5908) A SINGLE BREATH
Beth Levin
Release Date March, 2017
Catalog #: NV6074
TRACK LISTING
Franz Schubert
Piano Sonata No.20, D.959
01 I. Allegro
02 II. Andantino
03 III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
04 IV. Rondo. Allegretto
Johannes Brahms
Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op.24
05 Aria
06 Variation I
07 Variation II animato
08 Variation III piano dolce
09 Variation IV risoluto
10 Variation V espressivo
11 Variation VI
12 Variation VII con vivacita
13 Variation VIII
14 Variation IX poco sostenuto
15 Variation X
16 Variation XI
17 Variation XII
18 Variation XIII Largamente, ma non piu
19 Variation XIV
20 Variation XV
21 Variation XVI
22 Variation XVII Piu mosso
23 Variation XVIII
24 Variation XIX leggiero e vivace
25 Variation XX
26 Variation XXI
27 Variation XXII
28 Variation XXIII
29 Variation XXIV
30 Variation XXV
31 Fugue
David Del Tredici
32 Ode To Music
CREDITS
All tracks recorded July and August 2016 at Peter Karl studio
in Brooklyn NY
Recording Session Producer Neil Rynston
Executive Producer Bob Lord
Executive A&R Sam Renshaw
A&R Alex Bourne
Audio Director Jeff LeRoy
Engineering Manager Lucas Paquette
Mastering Shaun Michaud
Art & Production Director Brett Picknell
Graphic Design Emily Roulo
Marketing Scott Murphy
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