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Love at Last / Lara Downes
PENTATONE

Love at Last / Lara Downes

$19.99

Details

Composer
Various
Artist
Lara Downes
Format
CD
Label
PENTATONE
Released
Apr 21, 2023
Catalog #
PTC5187018
UPC
8717306260183

About

Watch our interview with Lara Downes on Love at Last!

Love at Last is pianist Lara Downes’s first Pentatone album, inspired by the poem Sachki, Sachki by the Odessa-born Jewish writer Shaul Tchernichovsky. Downes presents 24 pieces, many of them in world premiere recordings, of works by living composers around the globe. Spanning generations, continents and cultures, these diverse voices are united in a stubborn belief in the possibility of humanity, brotherhood, peace, and compassion, and in the everlasting power of love.

An iconoclast and trailblazer, Lara Downes’s dynamic work as a sought-after soloist, a Billboard Chart-topping recording artist, a producer, curator, arts activist and advocate positions her as a cultural visionary on the national arts scene. She was honored as 2022 Classical Woman of the Year by Performance Today.

Hear Downes's appearance on NPR's Morning Edition, discussing Love at Last!

REVIEWS:

It's not unusual for an artist to include a message to listeners on an album; it's less common for said message to be included as a concluding audio commentary. Such a move is, however, wholly consistent with Lara Downes' character: rather than share her message through the impersonal medium of the written word, she connects with immediacy using her voice, the illusion fostered of the artist speaking directly to you. Those who've been following the pianist throughout her career are familiar with her generosity of spirit, her resolute belief in the potential of human beings, her hope for peace, and her embracing vision. One comes away from a Downes recording, Love at Last no exception, renewed and uplifted.

An activist, mentor, and trailblazer, Downes expresses her appreciation for a vast array of artists from multiple countries and eras on her Pentatone debut. In a seventy-five-minute programme recorded in Mt. Vernon, New York in September 2022, pieces by J. S. Bach and Schubert sit comfortably alongside covers of standards and world premiere recordings of works by living composers from around the globe.

The journey, while scenic, panoramic, and ever-changing, is long; things move quickly, however, when the selections are compact in length and most two to three minutes at a time. Naturally, certain pieces register more strongly than others; what's never wanting, however, is investment on her part: she commits herself fully to the project and penetrates to the essential core of each piece. The evidence is audible the moment Jaroslav Ježek's haunting “Dawn” introduces the set until Shawn E. Okpebholo's arrangement of “Amazing Grace” ends it twenty-three songs later. Along the way, hope, sorrow, and tenderness surface, with a number of pieces written during the pandemic and confronting feelings of isolation and longing.

Downes' poised renderings of Bach's stirring “Wachet Auf” (“Sleepers Awake”) and Schubert's “Frühlingsglaube” (“Believe in Spring”) exemplify her general approach: refraining from embellishing on the material gratuitously, she opts instead to focus on themes and let their poetry emerge in its fullest possible form.

Downes' humanitarian values find expression in eloquent, life-affirming material such as Debbie Friedman's “Laugh at All My Dreams,” Margaret Bonds's “I Believe: Credo No. 2,” Gabriel Kahane's “Little Love,” and Valentin Silvestrov's “Lullaby.” One of the more interesting new compositions is Sean Hickey's “Fluid” for the way it both references gender fluidity and, by incorporating rhythmic and harmonic elements from Debussy's La Mer and Joni Mitchell's “River,” water. Memorable too are pianist Mariel Mayz's elaborate re-imagining of Sammy Fain's “I'll Be Seeing You,” the popular tune known through recordings by Bing Crosby and Billie Holiday, and Dobrinka Tabakova's enchanting “Simple Prayer for Complex Times.”

Downes' positive outlook isn't a reflection of childish naïveté or an obstinate refusal to acknowledge reality: she knows the world is fraught with problems and sees like the rest of us many parts struggling with debilitating issues. Even so, she determinedly holds to her values of love and compassion. For her, “this is the hour to awake from our sleep and greet a new dawn.” Like other recordings in her esteemed discography, Love at Last shines like a light fighting to overcome darkness and symbolizes the inexhaustible power of hope and resilience.

-- Textura

Tracklist 25 tracks

  1. 1 Svítá (Dawn) (arr. J. Siskind for piano) 01:29
    Track
    1
    Title
    Svítá (Dawn) (arr. J. Siskind for piano)
    Duration
    01:29
    Composer
    Jaroslav Ježek
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  2. 2 6 Schübler Chorales, BWV 645-650: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645 (arr. I. Friedman for piano) 03:21
    Track
    2
    Title
    6 Schübler Chorales, BWV 645-650: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645 (arr. I. Friedman for piano)
    Duration
    03:21
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  3. 3 Laugh at All My Dreams (arr. J. Siskind for piano) 02:36
    Track
    3
    Title
    Laugh at All My Dreams (arr. J. Siskind for piano)
    Duration
    02:36
    Composer
    Debbie Friedman
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  4. 4 Credo: Especially do I Believe in the Negro Race (arr. L. Downes for piano) 02:35
    Track
    4
    Title
    Credo: Especially do I Believe in the Negro Race (arr. L. Downes for piano)
    Duration
    02:35
    Composer
    Margaret Allison Bonds
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  5. 5 A World of Change 03:22
    Track
    5
    Title
    A World of Change
    Duration
    03:22
    Composer
    Clarice Assad
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  6. 6 Little Love (version for piano) 03:16
    Track
    6
    Title
    Little Love (version for piano)
    Duration
    03:16
    Composer
    Gabriel Kahane
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  7. 7 Frühlingsglaube, Op. 20, No. 2, D. 686 (arr. A. Horn for piano) 03:58
    Track
    7
    Title
    Frühlingsglaube, Op. 20, No. 2, D. 686 (arr. A. Horn for piano)
    Duration
    03:58
    Composer
    Franz Schubert
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  8. 8 Tree Of Life 03:20
    Track
    8
    Title
    Tree Of Life
    Duration
    03:20
    Composer
    Iván Enrique Rodríguez
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  9. 9 Our Planet Earth: No. 15. Earth 02:14
    Track
    9
    Title
    Our Planet Earth: No. 15. Earth
    Duration
    02:14
    Composer
    Karen Tanaka
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  10. 10 It Only Ever Rains in November 03:19
    Track
    10
    Title
    It Only Ever Rains in November
    Duration
    03:19
    Composer
    Nyokabi Kariūki
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  11. 11 Even This Laughter; Even Your Tears 04:26
    Track
    11
    Title
    Even This Laughter; Even Your Tears
    Duration
    04:26
    Composer
    deVon Russel Gray
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  12. 12 By Loving You (version for piano) 02:22
    Track
    12
    Title
    By Loving You (version for piano)
    Duration
    02:22
    Composer
    Jimmy López Bellido
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  13. 13 Fluid 03:48
    Track
    13
    Title
    Fluid
    Duration
    03:48
    Composer
    Sean Hickey
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  14. 14 Meeting Point 02:45
    Track
    14
    Title
    Meeting Point
    Duration
    02:45
    Composer
    Calliope Tsoupaki
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  15. 15 Parting Friends 03:23
    Track
    15
    Title
    Parting Friends
    Duration
    03:23
    Composer
    Timo Andres
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  16. 16 I'll Be Seeing You (arr. M. Mayz for piano) 02:43
    Track
    16
    Title
    I'll Be Seeing You (arr. M. Mayz for piano)
    Duration
    02:43
    Composer
    Sammy Fain
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  17. 17 Simple Prayer for Complex Times 05:27
    Track
    17
    Title
    Simple Prayer for Complex Times
    Duration
    05:27
    Composer
    Dobrinka Tabakova
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  18. 18 Blessing 03:20
    Track
    18
    Title
    Blessing
    Duration
    03:20
    Composer
    Patricio Molina
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  19. 19 Crown thy Good 05:20
    Track
    19
    Title
    Crown thy Good
    Duration
    05:20
    Composer
    Vijay Iyer
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  20. 20 Healer 02:56
    Track
    20
    Title
    Healer
    Duration
    02:56
    Composer
    Milad Yousufi
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  21. 21 Travels: No. 1. Mirror The Stars 01:27
    Track
    21
    Title
    Travels: No. 1. Mirror The Stars
    Duration
    01:27
    Composer
    Juhi Bansal
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  22. 22 Bright Night 02:51
    Track
    22
    Title
    Bright Night
    Duration
    02:51
    Composer
    Hooshyar Khayam
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  23. 23 4 Pieces, Op. 2: No. 1. Lullaby: Moderato 02:42
    Track
    23
    Title
    4 Pieces, Op. 2: No. 1. Lullaby: Moderato
    Duration
    02:42
    Composer
    Valentin Silvestrov
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  24. 24 Amazing Grace (arr. S.E. Okpebholo for piano) 02:58
    Track
    24
    Title
    Amazing Grace (arr. S.E. Okpebholo for piano)
    Duration
    02:58
    Composer
    Traditional
    Performer
    Lara Downes
  25. 25 Audio Commentary 02:23
    Track
    25
    Title
    Audio Commentary
    Duration
    02:23
    Performer
    Lara Downes