Multi-GRAMMY® nominated pianist Nadia Shpachenko’s new release,"The Poetry of Places" features World Premiere recordings of works for solo piano, for two pianos , percussion, electronics,...

Multi-GRAMMY® nominated pianist Nadia Shpachenko’s new release,"The Poetry of Places" features World Premiere recordings of works for solo piano, for two pianos , percussion, electronics, voice and toy piano in a fascinating mélange inspired by great architecture and places. The eight compositions monumentalize places so wildly diverse as the Copland House in Cortlandt, NY, The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Louis Kahn’s National Assembly Buildings in Bangladesh, Newgrange Ancient Temple in Ireland, and Frank Gehry’s House in Santa Monica. Included is a significant new work from Andrew Norman, "Frank’s House" , for two pianos and percussion, and another large work from Nina C. Young, "Kolokol", for two pianos and electronics (a ‘fantasy’ inspired by Russian Orthodox Church Bells). Six solo works, by Amy Beth Kirsten, Hannah Lash, James Matheson, Harold Meltzer, Lewis Spratlan, and Jack Van Zandt, were written specifically for this project, using very different approaches and sonic means in their responses to their chosen spaces.

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REVIEW:

This collection of eight new works, all receiving world premiere recordings, draws inspiration from significant architecture as well as place. Featuring a broad range of contemporary voices, it's a scintillating mix of daring sound, genuine beauty, and a commodity too often missing from the new music world: humor. The CD concludes, appropriately, with a chorus of Russian Orthodox bells (think of the Coronation Scene from Boris Godonov), created by pianos and electronic renditions of actual church bells—in this case, the Danilov Bells installed at Harvard University. It sounds like a celebration, as does the cumulative effect of this remarkably diverse and thoroughly engaging collection. Nadia Shpachenko is a great friend and champion of new music.

– Fanfare (Peter Burwasser)