Tones & Colors (CAG Records, 2018)
“An unusual and creative approach ... It’s a skillfully assembled repertoire list and beautifully played throughout.... Stepanova is one to follow in the piano world.”
““A varied disc with extensive programme notes and elegant playing from Liza Stepanova, who explores the intersection of art and music.””
““an ambitiously vast, meticulously played range of works beginning with Bach and ending in our time with George Crumb...
Stepanova smartly programs the album as she would a concert.”
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Liza Stepanova presents Tones & Colors, a special project that explores the relationship between music and visual art. Each musical work on this album has either been directly inspired by a specific work of art or has inspired a painter or sculptor in return.
READ A PERSONAL STATEMENT BY THE ARTIST, PROGRAM NOTES AND VIEW THE ART
Watch an excerpt from Liza’s performance of Tones & Colors at National Sawdust in New York City. Listen to Fanny Mendelssohn’s “September” (with artwork by Wilhelm Hensel) and hear Liza speak about the project.
TRACK LISTING
I. A Spanish Room
Enrique Granados: The Strawman - inspired by Goya
Maurice Ohana: Bury Them And Be Silent - inspired by Goya
Joaquín Turina: Before “The Lances” by Velazquez - inspired by Velazquez
II. Nature and Impressionism
Fanny Hensel: September: At the River - artwork in the score by Wilhelm Hensel
Bohuslav Martinů: Butterflies in the Flowers - inspired by Švabinský
Claude Debussy: Goldfish - inspired by a Japanese print
III. Conversations Across Time
J. S Bach: Prelude and Fugue in E-flat minor - has inspired a sculpture by Heinrich Neugeboren
George Crumb: Adoration of the Magi - inspired by Giotto
Lyonel Feininger: Fugue in E-flat minor - Feininger, a renowned painter, was inspired by Bach
IV. Wagner, Infinity, and an Encore
Wagner-Liszt: Overture to "Tannhäuser" - Wagner's Tannhäuser inspired Cezanne, Fantin-Latour, and others
György Ligeti: Infinite Column - inspired by Brâncuşi
Leopold Godowsky: Watteau-Paysage - inspired by Watteau