Klassik Center Kassel Giacinto Scelsi - The Piano Works 3

Extremely private in his later years, Giacinto Scelsi allowed a select group of musicians to work with him and gain special insight into his unique compositions. Renowned contemporary music pianist Aki Takahashi was one of these musicians. The program Ms. Takahashi has selected for this recital is largely made up of works which she prepared with the composer. It includes the Quattro Illustrazioni - a tour-de-force of exotic, erotic illustrations depicting the different incarnations of Vishnu. Scelsi's interest in microtonality led him to abandon writing for the piano in the mid-1950s, with the exception of two works recorded here. In Aitsi, the natural attack of the piano is masked by distortion generated electronically from the attack of the note(s), allowing only the natural decay of the note to be heard. Un Adieu, is an extraordinarily beautiful, melancholic piece that truly conveys the feeling of "farewell" in its title. ...