Alexei Lubimov

A track of surprises and a crazy adventure as such: Alexei Lubimov's repertory encompasses the entire spectrum of Baroque and contemporary music. He adapted works of Schnittke, Gubaidulina, and Silvestrov and made himself a name with performances of Ives, Schönberg, Webern, Ligeti, Cage and Riley. Next to this, Lubimov concentrated on performance with old instruments. Schubert's 'Impromptus D935' pays witness to the ultimate balance between introspective tonality and refined formal sublimation of the songwriter. The two 'Rhapsodies', which Brahms (1833-1897) wrote in 1880 reveal youthful heroism and show their rhapsodic character mainly in the symphonic dynamism and the orchestral pallet with which Brahms explores the full range of the piano. The 'Préludes' of Debussy (1862-1918) are, together with the collections 'Estampes' and 'Images' and the 'Studies', part of his most mature period, in which the oeuvre reached an absolute abstraction and depth. Debussy put the titles consciously at the end of the work to avoid any descriptive allusions. The satirical little work of Ives (1874-1954) is a tripartite work, which burrows into the history of musical form. Cage (1912-1992) finally found new élan for piano music in 'additive' effects of Eastern rhythmic and his 'prepared sounds'.