Baker, Claude (1948-) - Piano Concerto, Aus Schwanengesang : Gilbert Varga / Juanjo Mena / Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Marc-Andre Hamelin(P) - Import CD

Credits:

Khachaturian

Description:

Claude Baker studied composition with Samuel Adler at the Eastman School of Music. A recipient of numerous awards and highly regarded for his work, his 2010 piano concerto "From Noon to the Stars" was commissioned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Indiana University School of Music, of which Baker is president as of 2017. Originally a revision of the solo piano piece "Flights of Passage," composed in 1998, the work was expanded from four movements to five, with a poem by Walt Whitman as a subtitle. It is a dramatic concerto that takes the piano to its fullest potential, and the five movements each have a different expression, and the fifth movement is particularly interesting, with quotations from Ives' and Messiaen's works. The world premiere of the piece was performed by Marc-André Amurand, a renowned pianist of superb technique, as the soloist. The other collection, "From the Swan Song," is an ambitious collage of Schubert's masterpieces, newly reworked. Naxos Japan

Tracklisting:

1.Drum-Taps - attacca:
2.Silent Sun
3.Lilacs
4.Dalliance - attacca:
5.Ecstatic Ghost
6.Das Fischermadchen
7.Am Meer / Die Stadt
8.Der Doppelganger - attacca:
9.Ihr Bild
10.Der Atlas