Musical Images For Piano
Navona, 2020
8/10
Listen to Musical Images For Piano
The always luminous composer Mark John McEncroe returns with a 3rd installment in his Reflections And Recollections series, where his orchestral works provide fodder for Van-Anh Nguyen’s piano prowess.
“Images Of Times Past” starts the listen with emotive and elegant keys that dance around warm, contemplative melodies with an introspective spirit, and “Movements In The Night” follows with a darker quality that’s no less impactful in its firm, cautious delivery.
In the middle, “Moving Into The Light”, from Natalie’s Suite, 3rd Movement, recruits a cinematic appeal of highly intricate key acrobatics, while “A Celtic Pagan’s Pilgrimage” embraces classical ideas as it is pushes and pulls with precise tension and grace.
Near the end, “Storm Clouds Approaching” rumbles lowly as if it’s brewing up something ominous amid strategic keys that offer fleeting melodies, and “Balmy Summer Nights” exits the listen with a light and upbeat approach that finishes the listen on a very high note.
Nguyen pulls off an enthralling performance here, as McEncroe’s work is stripped back but no less powerful in its execution, and illustrates much depth in its timeless nature.
Travels well with: Mark John McEncroe- Musical Images For Chamber Orchestra: Reflections & Recollections Vol. 2; Apollo Chamber Players- Within Earth