Luisa Imorde – Bach & Kapustin: Moon Rainbow (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Pianist Luisa Imorde loves innovative combinations: following on from circus dances by Schumann and Widmann and the affair of honour between Woelfl and Beethoven, she now prepares to cast light on Johann Sebastian Bach and Nikolai Kapustin. This is an album whose spectrum ranges from Baroque counterpoint through to polyrhythmic jazz sounds.

They could hardly be further apart: Bach and Kapustin lived 250 years apart and on two different continents. One is the indisputable supremo of European classical music, the other a Ukrainian composer known only to a few aficionados in central Europe, someone who transforms musical jazz sequences into formal, classical structures. On Moon Rainbow they alternate. “There is no established listening convention for this. The result is a foundation of literally unheard sounds, which makes it possible to hear anew – so to speak – a familiar old piece by Bach in this new context,” explains Imorde. Nikolai Kapustin is hardly a household name, even in Europe. Born in 1937 in Horlivka in what was then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the composer and pianist began pouring improvisatory ideas into forms that were well known in the Baroque era. What he wrote sounded like virtuoso jazz, yet every single note, every accent and all the dynamics are clearly defined. Preludes, Fugues, Inventions – even at this level, everything ultimately leads to Bach. And what Luisa Imorde says of Kapustin can also be related to Bach: “I can’t remember when I played music that was more intelligently and humorously constructed. It is incredibly interlocked and so rhythmically multi-layered that I sometimes feel as if I need to split my head from my hands in order to follow every line, every voice.”

Tracklist:
1-01. Luisa Imorde – Concerto in D Minor, BWV 974 after Marcello: I. Andante (02:43)
1-02. Luisa Imorde – 24 Jazz Preludes, Op. 53: IV. Allegretto (01:29)
1-03. Luisa Imorde – Concerto in D Minor, BWV 974 after Marcello: II. Adagio (03:28)
1-04. Luisa Imorde – 24 Jazz Preludes, Op. 53: V. Largo (02:06)
1-05. Luisa Imorde – Concerto in D Minor, BWV 974 after Marcello: III. Presto (04:15)
1-06. Luisa Imorde – 8 Concert Studies, Op. 40: VI. Pastoral. Allegro moderato (02:38)
1-07. Luisa Imorde – Pastorale in F Major, BWV 590: III. Andante cantabile (Arr. for Piano) (03:30)
1-08. Luisa Imorde – 8 Concert Studies, Op. 40: III. Toccatina. Allegro (02:21)
1-09. Luisa Imorde – Toccata in E Minor, BWV 914 (08:08)
1-10. Luisa Imorde – 24 Jazz Preludes, Op. 53: IX. Lento (03:10)
1-11. Luisa Imorde – Prelude and Fugue in C-Sharp Major, BWV 872 (03:44)
1-12. Luisa Imorde – 24 Preludes and Fugues in B-Flat Minor, Op. 82: XXII. Allegretto. Grave (03:16)
1-13. Luisa Imorde – Prelude and Fugue in B Major, BWV 892 (05:31)
1-14. Luisa Imorde – 10 Inventions, Op. 73: IX. Lento (03:02)
1-15. Luisa Imorde – Invention No. 6 in E Major, BWV 777 (04:10)
1-16. Luisa Imorde – Sonatina, Op. 100 (03:55)
1-17. Luisa Imorde – Concerto in D Major, BWV 972 after Vivaldi: I. Allegro (02:02)
1-18. Luisa Imorde – Moon Rainbow, Op. 161 (05:46)
1-19. Luisa Imorde – Concerto in D Major, BWV 972 after Vivaldi: II. Larghetto (02:46)
1-20. Luisa Imorde – Contemplation, Op. 47 (06:21)
1-21. Luisa Imorde – Concerto in D Major, BWV 972 after Vivaldi: III. Allegro (02:26)
1-22. Luisa Imorde – 24 Jazz Preludes, Op. 53: XXIII. Moderato (02:24)