Bach, Byrd, Gibbons + Contemporary Music
Alexandra Sostmann, Klavier
TYXArt, 2020
Bestell-Nr.: TXA20145
This new recording primarily focuses on polyphonic connections between the great contrapuntists Byrd, Gibbons, Bach, and contemporary composers John Tavener, Oliver Knussen, John Adams, Markus Horn, and Xiaoyong Chen. The two Bach Ricercari from the “Musical Offering” serve as a “musical frame.” The exciting connection of the individual, diverse works arises from the polyphonic structures, modal church modes, or through religious and spiritual references. There are 429 years between Byrd’s work and the piece composed for the CD by Xiaoyong Chen. Listeners can expect that “Bach, Byrd, Gibbons & Contemporary Music” is a recording that is wonderfully transparent, indeed pleasantly effortless. They must engage with the depth, the space, and sometimes also with silence — and it is worth it, as the music transforms the self and directs attention towards us.
"Just music - nothing else - how soothing"
"Here, levels of refinement are conjured up, which, however, come across with great calmness, completely unagitated. Contemplation and spirituality come together in a sense, and this is something that must first be generated pianistically. In any case, Sostmann has grandiose pianistic means at her disposal, as well as a significant pianistic and stylistic flexibility that even extends into jazz regions... A highly interesting album.""
"Her touch is crystal clear, almost sober, thoughtful and transparent, free of pathos, yet full of poetry. When the Hamburg-born pianist plays John Adams, the cascades of sound become a curtain behind which a deeper truth hides. And when she plays the two great fugues from Bach's Musical Offering, one can trace each individual voice or simply find solace in the ethereal calmness. ... From courtly dance music of the Renaissance, philosophy in tones emerges here. And when Bach returns in his detached melancholy at the end, one tips their hat to a pianist whose richness of nuance is second to none among the great stars.“
"As it turns out, music by William Byrd (1542–1623) and Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625), embedded in minimalist works by John Tavener or John Adams, sounds almost progressive. Especially when an interpreter like Sostmann can elicit almost ethereal bell-like sounds from her piano when it matters. Her art of clearly distinguishing individual tones while still shaping melodic lines evokes associations with the harpsichord sound here and there, yet utilizes the expanded possibilities for color differentiation virtuously..."
"Alexandra Sostmann opens new horizons of experience with this program, which also includes freeing musical present from its elite reservations, in general liberating musical messages from their temporal context. Impressive. Recommendation! 10-10-10" 10-10-10
