Ten years ago the Russian pianist Alexei Lubimov made a record entitled Der Bote or The Messenger, which combined a collection of elegiac piano miniatures spanning three centuries and diverse nationalities, from Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1778) to the contemporary Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian. On Thursday, November 11, he performed that program as part of Lincoln Center's White Light Festival.

Q2 is thrilled to announce three Web casts of the entire concert beginning tonight, Thursday, November 17, at 8:00 p.m. with encore presentations Monday, November 22 as the kick-off to a Lubimov-inspired week of Hammered! and Sunday, November 28 at 2:00 p.m. as part of a Cued Up on Q2 episode devoted to two-hours worth of solo piano performances recorded live, here in New York City. 

Featuring works from the aforementioned C.P.E. Bach and Mansurian, this recital attests to Lubimov's profound ability to capture a specific sentiment and send it resonating through varied, seemingly incongruous mediums. Responding to the White Light Festival's theme of spirituality and introspection, he blends music from sources as different as the 20th-century icon of experimentation John Cage, the first rock-star Franz Liszt and the delicate collagist Valentin Silvestrov. Throughout the evening, the thread of continuity never breaks. Even the boisterous forearm and open-palm-laden Sonata No. 6 by Galina Ustvolskaya comes across, according to the NY Times, as "brutally spiritual."

Though Lubimov has earned a deserved reputation as a tireless promoter of the avant-garde, especially of Baltic, Russian and former Soviet Republic artists, and as a master in Baroque and early music, his capacity for the warhorses of Classical and Romantic repertoire is not to be missed. Stream the second of his Late-Night Elegies covering the two sets of Schubert Impromptus. 

Both Lubimov's Late-Night Elegies were recorded live at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse at Lincoln Center by WQXR.

 

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Complete Program

Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach: Fantasia in F-sharp minor, "C.P.E. Bach’s Feelings”

John Cage: In a Landscape

Tigran Mansurian: Nostalgia

Franz Liszt: La lugubre gondola II (The Funeral Gondola)

Georgs Pelecis: Suite No. 3

Galina Ustvolskaya: Sonata No. 6

Arvo Pärt: Für Alina

Valentin Silvestrov: Der Bote (The Messenger)

Valentin Silvestrov: Postlude