Sound Visionaries
Navona, 2021
10/10
A Canadian pianist with an impressive 50+ recorded albums to her credit, Christina Petrowska Quilico highlights Claude Debussy, Olivier Messiaen, and Pierre Boulez here, where her modern and impressionist abilities are on full display as the versatility and unparalleled attention to detail is nothing short of fascinating.
Claude Debussy’s “Preludes Book Two” starts the listen with mesmerizing piano work that’s both busy and calm, where low rumbling and haunting moments enter later on in the unpredictable climate that spreads across 8 ethereal movements.
The 2nd composition, “Vingt Regards Sur L’Enfant-Jésus”, takes the Oliver Messiaen original and places firm bouts of exploration amid mysterious, even ominous moments are met with dreamy ideas across the 7 portions that hint at a spiritual angle.
The final 2 tracks are both by Pierre Boulez, where “Premiére Sonate” injects calm moments of beauty alongside fuller moments of charming atmosphere, and “Troisiéme Sonate Pour Piano” brings cinematic qualities to a sometimes bare and other times lush landscape.
Quilico was recently named to the Order of Canada “for her celebrated career as a classical and contemporary pianist and for championing Canadian music”, and Sound Visionaries certainly continues her inimitable skill that anyone with a penchant for the piano will adore.
Travels well with: The Crossing- Words Adorned; Inna Faliks- Reimagine: Beethoven & Ravel