With, Without A Little... - Arash Rokni - Audio CD (Arrives in 50 days)

"Isn't the will not to be expressive already an expression? Perhaps Paul Hindemith asked himself the same question when he wrote the instructions for the player in his "Nachtstück" not to play without expression, not with expression, but only with a little expression!"

This fascinating concept album juxtaposes piano works which are highly expressive and works which are (on purpose) without or with little expression. The Schumann Variations by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) and the Bunte Blätter by Robert Schumann (1810-1856) are firmly embedded in the 19th century romantic idiom, expressing highly personal emotions. The Dances and Nocturnes by Alexander Mosolov 1900-1973, a Russian experimentalist) and the Suite 1922 by Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) are written in a fundamentally different style. The music of the «new objectivity», of which Hindemith was regarded as the protagonist, is unsentimental, sober, solidly made in terms of form, transparent and concise. It disdains what is «expressive», without being inexpressive.

Label: Piano Classics | Origin: Holland