Lee / Park / Patterson / Perlongo- Piano Ensemble Works Written By Living Composers (CD)
The piano is the powerhouse of musical instruments: with it's vast tonal range and it's ability to simultaneously supply chords and melodies, it generally takes the dominating place in virtually any setup. So what happens if you compose and play music for two of these behemoths? Pianists Sang-Hie Lee and Martha Thomas answer this question on their aptly-titled new album GLOBE, TRAVEL, HOMELAND. Their touchstone? A selection of new two-piano duos by living composers, tonally residing somewhere between Prokofiev and Messiaen. Few instrumental setups are as complex as this one, but Lee and Thomas navigate it's challenges with great aplomb, to the point where the music feels less like a duo and more like a transcendental conversation between kindred spirits. As it should.
The piano is the powerhouse of musical instruments: with it's vast tonal range and it's ability to simultaneously supply chords and melodies, it generally takes the dominating place in virtually any setup. So what happens if you compose and play music for two of these behemoths? Pianists Sang-Hie Lee and Martha Thomas answer this question on their aptly-titled new album GLOBE, TRAVEL, HOMELAND. Their touchstone? A selection of new two-piano duos by living composers, tonally residing somewhere between Prokofiev and Messiaen. Few instrumental setups are as complex as this one, but Lee and Thomas navigate it's challenges with great aplomb, to the point where the music feels less like a duo and more like a transcendental conversation between kindred spirits. As it should.