Virgil Thomson was not the first to compose musical portraits, but his are singular in that they were drawn from life. Gertrude Stein did this in literature and Thomson, ever her disciple, aspired to do so in music; the “model” would sit for their portrait, and the score page would become a canvas. These discs feature 70 of the 110 portraits for solo piano–representing the largest collection of these piano portraits ever recorded by one artist–brought to life by Craig Rutenberg, distinguished pianist, friend, and colleague of Mr. Thomson.