IGOR LEVIT - On DSCH Part 2: Stevenson [2LP]

Sony Classical

£24.30
~~£35.84~~

Format: 2 x LP
Catalogue No.: 19439903681
Release Date: 04 Feb 2022
Genre: Experimental/Electronic

On DSCH by Igor Levit is a double-vinyl tour de force by “one of the essential artists of our time” (The New York Times). That the self-styled “maximalist” enjoys pushing himself to his limits – intellectually and physically – is well known, but the present project puts all others in the shade. This is the second part of the On DSCH vinyl release, covering the Ronald Stevenson Passacaglia – the first vinyl, covering Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, was released with the album last year. On DSCH was met with huge critical acclaim, receiving a wealth of five-star reviews from publications such as The Guardian, Financial Times, BBC Music Magazine, The Scotsman and Classica. It was also included on numerous year-end lists, as well as being featured as a Gramophone Recording of the Month in September. The Guardian wrote that “his performance of the Stevenson has never been equalled” and The Times that “you would have to be a desiccated soul not to respond to Levit’s panache and the big-hearted gusto of Stevenson’s music.” The letters DSCH spell out Shostakovich’s musical monogram using their German note names: D–Es–C–H = D–E♭–C–B – the DSCH motif provided Scottish composer Ronald Stevenson with the basis for a spectacular survey of all manner of pianistic and stylistic possibilities over a span of more than three hundred variations. “The Passacaglia”, Levit believes, “is a veritable compendium of life, a kind of music that tells us of our responsibility towards the world as a whole.” In May 2019, Levit’s performance of Stevenson’s Passacaglia on DSCH in London’s Wigmore Hall prompted the critic of The Guardian to opine that it was unlikely that the work “has ever been played better”. The album’s artwork is specially created by the internationally renowned graphic artist and book designer Christoph Niemann, who regularly illustrates for “The New Yorker” and “The New York Times” and has been celebrated by numerous museum retrospectives and festivals. His Abstract Sundays Instagram account, an offshoot from his New York Times blog, has 1 million followers.