Koeun Grace Lee - Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe & Other Selected Piano Works (2023) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Theme. Stately
02. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 1, Frenetically.
03. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 2, Easily.
04. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 3, Savagely.
05. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 4, Like a Baroque Fugue.
06. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 5, Skittishly.
07. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 6, Like a Baroque Prelude.
08. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 7, Like a Ragtime.
09. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 8, Delicately.
10. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 9, Incredibly Intensely.
11. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 10, Song Without Words.
12. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 11, Off Kilter Waltz.
13. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 12, Like a Baroque Fugue.
14. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 13, Freewheeling.
15. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 14, Gently and with Great Serenity.
16. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 15, Rhapsodically.
17. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 16, Like a Baroque Fugue.
18. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 17, Moodily.
19. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 18, Ethereally.
20. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 19, Freely (But Not Too Much Freely).
21. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Var. 20, One More Fugue, Nicely and Slowly.
22. Variations on a Theme by Stefan Wolpe: Theme (Retrograde). Stately
23. Go-Hyang: I. Inyon
24. Go-Hyang: II. Jaejalgawrim
25. Go-Hyang: III. Mokrohjujom
26. Go-Hyang: IV. Chang-gu
27. Go-Hyang: V. Mudang
28. Go-Hyang: VI. Go-Hyang
29. Folksong Revisited: I. Nil-lili
30. Folksong Revisited: II. Song of Mongeumpo
31. Folksong Revisited: III. Ongheya

Very few genres are as difficult to interpret pianistically as that of contemporary serious music: it often requires a superhuman degree of both virtuosity and patience, and the potential pitfalls of expression are ever-present. Enter Korean pianist Koeun Grace Lee, who zestily breezes through the most varied contemporary repertoire imaginable, with a level of self-assurance and musical competence that borders on being a revelation.

While also featuring folkloristically-inspired works by David Burge and Jean Ahn, the heart of VARIATIONS ON A THEME BY STEFAN WOLPE is the similarly-titled work by Robert Gross, spanning no less than twenty variations on a theme by Stefan Wolpe, the German-American interdisciplinary modernist. Sprawling yet precise, decisive yet eclectic, it’s the perfect canvas for Lee, and the resulting symbiosis is mesmerizing.

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