New Sony Classical album will draw on experiences of lockdown

Pianist Igor Levit, who won Gramophone's Record of the Year in 2016 with his triple album of Bach, Beethoven and Rzewski, has announced his next release.

Called `Encounter', it will feature arrangements by Busoni of chorale preludes by Bach, Brahms's Vier ernste GesÃ¤nge arranged by Reger, Reger's Nachtlied arranged by Julian Becker, and finally Palais de Mari, Morton Feldman's final work for solo piano.

According to Sony Classical, Levit's label, the album, full of internal connections between composers, 'seeks sounds that give inner strength and support for the soul. In works by Bach to Max Reger, based on poignant vocal compositions, the desire for encounters and human togetherness is given expression - at a time when isolation is the order of the day.'

Levit himself relates the programme to his experiences in the recent coronavirus lockdown, during which he live-streamed daily house concerts, and gave a 20-hour performance of Satie's Vexations. 'The restricted isolation in the weeks since mid-March 2020 was often difficult for me too. As an artist, however, I have never felt so free, so open in my life as on those days when I often only decided half an hour before the live stream what I would play in my house concerts.

'Being able to make music without any compulsion and spontaneously choosing works in which all questions about love and death, loneliness and the possibility of real love for others are examined, has given my piano playing a level of freedom that I had never before experienced in this form.'

IGOR LEVIT -- ENCOUNTER - SONY

Tracklist:

10 Chorale Preludes, BV B 27; No. 1, Komm, Gott SchÃ¶pfer, Heiliger Geist, BWV 667
10 Chorale Preludes, BV B 27; No. 2, Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns Die Stimme, BWV 645
10 Chorale Preludes, BV B 27; No. 3, Nun Komm, Der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659
10 Chorale Preludes, BV B 27; No. 4, Nun Freut Euch, Lieben Christen Gmein, BWV 734
10 Chorale Preludes, BV B 27; No. 5, Ich Ruf Zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639
10 Chorale Preludes, BV B 27; No. 6, Herr Gott, Nun SchleuÃŸ Den Himmel Auf, BWV 617
10 Chorale Preludes, BV B 27; No. 7A, Durch Adams Fall Ist Ganz Verderbt, BWV 637
10 Chorale Preludes, BV B 27; No. 7B, Durch Adams Fall Ist Ganz Verderbt. Fuga, BWV 705
10 Chorale Preludes, BV B 27; No. 8, in Dir Ist Freude, BWV 615 1
10 Chorale Preludes, BV B 27; No. 9, Jesus Christus, Unser Heiland, BWV 665 1
6 Chorale Preludes, BV B 50; Herzlich Tut Mich Erfreuen, Op. 122/4 1
6 Chorale Preludes, BV B 50; SchmÃ¼cke Dich, O Liebe Seele, Op. 122/5 1
6 Chorale Preludes, BV B 50; Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen, Op. 122/8 1
6 Chorale Preludes, BV B 50; Herzlich Tut Mich Verlangen, Op. 122/9 1
6 Chorale Preludes, BV B 50; Herzlich Tut Mich Verlangen, Op. 122/10 1
6 Chorale Preludes, BV B 50; O Welt, Ich Muss Dich Lassen, Op. 122/11 1
Vier Ernste GesÃ¤nge; Denn Es Gehet Dem Menschen Wie Dem Vieh, Op. 121/1 1
Vier Ernste GesÃ¤nge; Ich Wandte Mich Und Sahe An Alle, Op. 121/2 1
Vier Ernste GesÃ¤nge; O Tod, Wie Bitter Bist Du, Op. 121/3 2
Vier Ernste GesÃ¤nge; Wenn Ich Mit Menschen- Und Mit Engelszungen Redete, Op. 121/4 2
Nachtlied, Op. 138/3 (Transcription for Piano) 2
Palais de Mari

UPC: 194397865721
Label: Masterworks
Release Date: 9.11.20
Format: CD

Igor Levit - Encounter (CD)