Listen & tracks

8 works · 78:20

1 Shichiseki 七夕 for violin and piano Kanako Okamoto i. Romance 9:24
Cinq petites mélodies for Pianoforte, No. 400Andrián Pertout 5 movements13:38
1. 2 i. Noir de l’ouest, Landó and Festejo :54
2. 3 ii. Jaune du sud, Zamba and Chacarera 4:34
3. 4 iii. Aqua du centre, Plena and Bomba 2:40
4. 5 iv. Rouge de l’est, Toque de São Bento Grande, Samba Partido Alto 3:41
5. 6 v. Blanc du nord, Bembé and Guaguancó 1:49
7 Beating the rusty nail Mark Pollard 10:10
8 Rishis and Saints for Violoncello and Prepared Pianoforte, No. 398 Andrián Pertout 11:23
9 Music for a While (from Purcell’s Oedipus) Henry Purcell 4:18
10 Verborgenheit (from Mörike Lieder, No. 12) Hugo Wolf 3:39
11 Agnus Dei (from Mass in B Minor) Johann Sebastian Bach 3:06
Piano SonataGabriella Vici 3 movements22:42
1. 12 Fantasie. Adagio misterioso 12:21
2. 13 Allegretto con grazia 2:37
3. 14 Toccata. Allegro vivace 7:44

The title Shichiseki comes from Kanako Okamoto’s violin and piano duo, named for Japan’s Star Festival on 7 July – coincidentally Harvey’s birthday – and structured on the Orihime and Hikoboshi legend.

Beside it stand Mark Pollard’s taiko-tinged Beating the rusty nail, Pertout’s five short piano pieces framed by Latin American rhythms and his cello and prepared-piano Rishis and Saints, three songs taken from Barrie Kosky’s 2010 stage adaptation of Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, and Gabriella Vici’s Piano Sonata written for Harvey.

In the artist’s words

Whilst this Piano Sonata was not written with a specific program in mind, it is nonetheless a work that explores the tension between the opposing forces of decay and regeneration. The first movement initially seems to coalesce from dwindling melodic lines, and for its entirety it strives to assemble itself into a peaceful, settled state; opposing this constructive momentum is the imminent threat of collapse, ultimately lending the movement into a decidedly disquieting tone. Movement II, a brief intermezzo, is passively suspended in an eighteenth-century minuet and trio, distorted as if in a state of natural decay. Yet, the third movement looks upwards: in an optimistic, unrelenting bid for convalescence, it challenges the destructive forces of the first movement with renewed strength, bringing the piece to a jubilant close.

— Gabriella Vici

Reviews

Japanese influences open further doors for the Australian pianist in his newest album. ... Harvey and violinist Miwako Abe whip up enormous gestural force in Kanako Okamoto’s Shichiseki, which commemorates Japan’s ancient annual Star Festival. Inspired by Taiko drumming, the pounding rhythms of Mark Pollard’s Beating the Rusty Nail are great fun. Also memorable is Andrián Pertout’s infectiously rhythmic Rishis and Saints, Harvey here being joined by cellist Alister Barker.

— Graham Strahle, The Australian

Artists

Michael Kieran Harvey

piano, prepared piano

Australian pianist and composer Dr Michael Kieran Harvey FAHA is among the foremost interpreters of contemporary piano music of his generation. A champion of Australian music, he regularly commissions new work and has performed with the country’s leading contemporary ensembles and orchestras.

Kanako Okamoto

composer

Kanako Okamoto is rapidly gaining an international profile as an exciting and significant Japanese composer, writing piano music of lyrical power and clear formal design.

Miwako Abe

violin

Miwako Abe is a Japanese-born violinist whose solo and chamber career has spanned Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Australasia. Based in Australia since 1982, she is admired for a warm, unforced tone and for new works written for her.

Andrián Pertout

composer

Andrián Pertout (b. 1963) is a Chilean-born Australian composer who settled in Melbourne in 1972. His rigorously structured music draws on wide cultural and mathematical resources and has been performed in more than forty countries.

Alister Barker

cello

Alister Barker studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Kim Bak Dinitzen and Karine Georgian. Since returning to Australia in 2005 he has been a frequent presence in Melbourne, as a soloist and as a chamber and orchestral musician.

Mark Pollard

composer

Australian composer Mark Clement Pollard has an eclectic style that draws on improvisation, jazz, pop, minimalism and the indigenous musics of South-East Asia.

Martin Niedermair

countertenor

Martin Niedermair received training at the Vienna Conservatory from 1993 to 1996. In the 1999/2000 and 2001/02 seasons he was a member of the ensemble at the Simpl cabaret, where he performed with the programs Wurzel aus 2001 and Bla.Bla.Bla.

Gabriella Vici

composer

Gabriella Vici (b. 1995) is from Sydney, Australia. She has had the privilege of composing for some of Australia’s leading chamber ensembles through collaborations with Musica Viva Australia, including Arcadia Winds and the Orava Quartet.

Johann Sebastian Bach

composer

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was a German composer and organist of the late Baroque. His sacred and secular music for choir, orchestra, organ and solo instruments remains among the foundations of the Western concert and church repertory.

Henry Purcell

composer

Henry Purcell (c. 1659–1695) was an English organist and composer of the middle Baroque. His sacred music, theatre songs, instrumental works and the opera Dido and Aeneas shaped a distinctly English Baroque style.

Hugo Wolf

composer

Hugo Wolf (1860–1903) was an Austrian composer, celebrated above all for his intensely expressive art songs, or Lieder, and for chamber works such as the Italian Serenade.

Digital booklet

Digital booklet Notes, texts and credits — read online or download the PDF Download the PDF

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$25.00 AUD

Compact disc

Buywell Music Australian Music Centre

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Also available to download from the iTunes Store.

Performers

Michael Kieran Harvey · piano, prepared piano
Miwako Abe · violin · tracks 1 and 7
Alister Barker · cello · track 8
Martin Niedermair · countertenor · tracks 9–11

Details

List price: $25.00 AUD
Total playing time: 78 minutes 20 seconds
Release date: 8 Dec 2023
Category: Classical
Genre: Contemporary Classical
Catalogue: MD 3470
EAN: 9314574347029

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