Philip Glass: Complete Piano Etudes [CD]

While listening to the profoundly perceptive performance by the pianist Jurgis Karnavicius ofthe entire cycle of 20 etudes, we move together through a shimmering, gentle landscape of changinglight: there is a special peace in his playing that does not mean stagnation; rather, it is a slow,deep process, similar to the movement of light through the space of a room when morning is justbreaking. This music creates the impression thatthe pianist becomes a mediator between two silences- the silence that was before the first note, and the silence that will remain after it fades.Thus, the etudes here take on not only the form of sound, but also a slow, plastic movement thatcontinues long after the hands lift from the keys. Some etudes fly with an inexorable driving force,their rhythms echoing human steps, heartbeats, a kind of internal engine. Others unfold like meditations,stretching time until it almost evaporates. A portrait of Philip Glass emerges, not just asa minimalist icon or a composer of large-scale works, but as an artist who understands the truevalue of simplicity, and invites us to listen with openness and wonder. And perhaps the etudes onthis lovingly realised recording will become for someone that unforgettable, life-transforming encounterwith Philip Glass's music.Laura Karnaviciute