Philip Glass (piano)
Orange Mountain Music OMM0168 53:54 mins
The pandemic hangover lingers, as the details of various shenanigans that took place come to light nearly four years after the initial lockdown. But there are joyous discoveries too – like this recording of solo Glass piano works, made by the composer in his home studio in early 2021. It is a snapshot of Philip Glass at 84, reconnecting with pieces created throughout his career, most now rarely performed – by the pianist-composer himself, at least – in public.
Like banana bread and birdwatching, the piano’s popularity spiked during the 2020-21 crisis, and Glass appears to have made the most of the time to refocus on his pianism. His Etudes, written for that very purpose, explore idea kernels that are carefully dissected; their complexity is such that the composer once revealed that he cannot play the entirety of Book 2. And why would he need to, when brilliant pianists including Vicky Chow (Cantaloupe), Maki Namekawa (OM) and Víkingur Ólafsson (DG) can on his behalf?
For this recording, Glass sticks with music he’s more comfortable with: Metamorphosis 1-5 (except for No. 4), which he recorded (including No. 4) for Sony back in 1989. There’s liquidity to the shimmering repetition, and the resonant sound of Glass’s Baldwin piano is closely captured. The gentle hum induced by the sustaining pedal (a little too obvious in ‘Truman Sleeps’) is a reminder of the intimacy of this recital.
The evergreen ‘Mad Rush’, meanwhile, soothes through subtle undulations and broken chords that, in less expert hands, tend towards lumpy porridge. Here, in contrast, we have the ultimate interpreter.