Sustain Vol. 3: Solo Works For Piano & Organ
Navona, 2022
8/10
This 3rd installment in the Sustain series focuses on piano and organ, where the work of 5 composers is performed by 4 musicians.
Jacob E. Goodman’s “Ten Variations On Fragments Of A Mussorgsky Theme” opens the listen with Lucie Kaucka’s firm and eloquent piano playing that spends 10+ minutes mesmerizing us with its strong attention to mood, and “Piano Etudes No. 3”, “No. 8” and “No. 10” follows with an initial bareness that rumbles low, but can also be turbulent and nearly abrasive in its artistic exploration of the John A Carollo composition.
On the back half of the listen, Armen-Levon Manaseryan’s swift and playful finger acrobatics make Hayg Boyadjian’s “Variations On A Theme By Bach” the album’s best, while Bruce Babcock’s “Alternative Facts For Organ” has James Walker manipulating the organ with moody, eerie and dense playing.
Boyd Jones handles the final track, Sydney Hodkinson’s “Organmusic”, where six movements showcase very agile playing and a highly animated presence of light versus dark textures.
An extremely well thought out affair, the artists show us just what is possible with solo piano and organ settings, as they highlight current composers amid a classical influence in an updated fashion.
Travels well with: Carl Vollrath- Old & New Poetry Vol. II; The Lowell Chamber Orchestra- The Suite