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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. The Other |
| 2. Tale Of A Man |
| 3. Smoke And Mirrors |
| 4. Pearl |
| 5. The Promise |
| 6. The Other, var. I |
| 7. Djivaeri |
| 8. The Insider |
| 9. Confession |
| 10. Promenade |
| 11. The Other, var. II |
Product Description
CD Description
Expressive music conveying the magic of sparse textures and subtle harmonic progessions: the sixth ECM album by Vassilis Tsabropoulos offers 11 piano miniatures, most of them originals, with the opening theme "The Other" as a recurring though constantly varied leitmotiv.
While the pianist's first solo album 'Akrosais' ("Hypnotic and mysterious, shimmering like ancient mosaics" - The Independent) was inspired by ancient Byzantine Greek music, the new material evokes similar atmospheres out of the compositional imagination. Although 90% of the music is written, it maintains the dreamy elasticity of improvised ballads. Tsabropoulos: "For me, it's a principle of life that less is more: Simplicity is the most difficult thing to achieve. Both as performer and as a listener I'm trying to find beauty inside the things, in details and nuances and in parts which are not so obvious." The listener is thus asked to take his time with the music, to concentrate and reflect and to discover his own path - therein lies the "promise" of this record.
Personnel:
Vassilis Tsabropoulos (piano)
About the Artist
Vassilis Tsabropoulos was born in Athens in 1966 and won a UNESCO piano competition aged 10. He subsequently studied in Athens, Paris, Salzburg and at Juilliard School of Music with amongst others Rudolf Serkin and Tatjana Nikolayeva, soon performing with orchestras such as the Czech Philharmonic and Houston Symphony. With the encouragement of Chick Corea, he began to improvise in jazz contexts. Ever since, he has followed parallel paths. His association with bassist Arild Andersen brought him to ECM in 1999. After releasing a solo album 'Akroasis', based on Byzantine hymns, he formed a duo with German cellist Anja Lechner, their debut recording 'Chants, Hymns and Dances' with music of Gurdjieff and Tsabropoulos was an international cross-cultural success, its sequel 'Melos' (2008, with U.T.Gandhi) being reviewed equally favourably.
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1 review
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
A little lightweight ...
18 Oct 2009
Format:Audio CD
With Tsabropoulos it is not always easy to say on what side of the fine line between postpostromantic kitsch and a genuine, meaningful musical process we find ourselves. In principle I am happy to give him the benefit of the doubt. There is no doubt that Tsabropoulos is a very honest and sensitive musician who plays his instrument with a remarkable airiness ànd earthiness. The luminous ECM sound helps in transmitting the honesty and spaciousness of his vision. But there needs to be a critical mass of musical substance to sustain the listener's interest. And it seems to me that "The Promise" falls a little short on this account. The level of musical invention is not on a par with "Akroasis", the predecessor solo recording. The delicate architecture that made this collection of traditional Byzantine hymns such a rewarding journey, with a gentle arc linking the first hymn to the final prayer, is to my mind absent in "The Promise". The session is less homogeneous too. Two tracks - "Tale of a Man" and "Confession" - sound like they didn't make it to "Akroasis" in the first place.
That doesn't mean that this recording is not able to provide considerable listening pleasure. Apart from a rather cloying Rachmaninov-like fantasy ("Promenade") there is nothing that irks on this disc. It's extremely mellifluous and meditative and it may be just the right thing one needs to wind down after a long day. And, again, the ECM sound is able to bestow even the most mundane piece of music with a very special glow. But as a whole it is a little lightweight. I think Tsabropoulos can do better. Akroasis is proof of that. Hence: 3 stars.
That doesn't mean that this recording is not able to provide considerable listening pleasure. Apart from a rather cloying Rachmaninov-like fantasy ("Promenade") there is nothing that irks on this disc. It's extremely mellifluous and meditative and it may be just the right thing one needs to wind down after a long day. And, again, the ECM sound is able to bestow even the most mundane piece of music with a very special glow. But as a whole it is a little lightweight. I think Tsabropoulos can do better. Akroasis is proof of that. Hence: 3 stars.
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