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| Title |
Composer(s) |
Performer(s) |
Length |
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| Celestial Mechanics |
George Crumb
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Lambert Orkis
James Primosch
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22:07 |
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| Chamber Symphony |
Maurice Wright
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Lambert Orkis
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15:05 |
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| Fantasy for Solo Harpsichord |
William Penn
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Lambert Orkis
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14:41 |
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| Fantasy Quintet |
Dexter Morrill
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Lambert Orkis
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13:56 |
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Lambert Orkis is a pianist for all seasons. No — make that a keyboardist for all seasons: he tackles William Penn's Fantasy for Solo Harpsichord with a virtuoso ferocity that threatens to make Franz Liszt's mountainous technique seem like a molehill, even as it leaves Conlon Nancarrow's celebrated player pianos panting and begging for oil. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.
Certainly Penn's Fantasy provides a fine platform for Mr. Orkis's astonishing command of the once-delicate harpsichord. But it's Mr. Orkis's equally astonishing pianistic feats, under the auspices of his long-time collaborators, the 20th Century Consort, the Smithsonian’s Resident new music ensemble directed by Christopher Kendall, that provide this compact disc's focal point: on George Crumb's Celestial Mechanics (a cosmic conception for piano four hands on which Mr. Orkis is joined by James Primosch), and Maurice Wright's tautly-textured Chamber Symphony for Piano and Electronic Sounds, as well as Dexter Morrill's playfully surreal Fantasy Quintet for Piano and Computer.
Needless to say, the works recorded here are as far a cry from the music Mr. Orkis plays on his regular gig with the National Symphony Orchestra as they are from the stuff he and cello giant Mstislav Rostropovich and violin wonder Anne-Sophie Mutter cover during their international concert tours together. Innova is honored to have Mr. Orkis kick off this first in a series of three discs, featuring highlights of the Consort’s Smithsonian seasons.
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Splendid Magazine
Frantic, percussive, intensely intellectual piano pieces that are well above and beyond the humble critical faculties of this reviewer. Pianist and collaborator [Lambert] Orkis puts on a virtuoso display.
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by Mike Baker
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DMG Newsletter
Dark and angular with occasionally violent eruptions. Mr. Orkis is an extraordianry pianist and a longtime champion of new music. Lambert pulls off some extremely dazzling and furiously paced playing here. Another fine disc from the great folk at Innova.
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by DMG
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