Solo piano repertoire has long been a staple of the classical music tradition dating back to the times of Bach and Mozart such that it's presence is often taken for granted and viewed as a thing of the past. In this August 17 CD release party at (Le) Poisson Rouge, however, pianist Kathleen Supové turns this dated notion on its head, presenting an eclectic evening of solo works written expressly for her by some of today's groundbreaking composers including Missy Mazzoli, Michael Gatonska, Anna Clyne, Dan Becker and Randall Woolf.

In celebration of her freshly-minted album, The Exploding Piano, Supové shows how the sound world of the solo piano repertoire has expanded and transformed into the present day. Rather than the traditional, concert-gown clad performer hunched over ivory keys, Supové's electrifying performances are a flurry of activity from plucking strings inside the piano to the use of electronic sound samples to Supové herself standing with a microphone discussing the String Theory of Quantum Physics while plunking out high-pitched notes. Without a doubt, in the last 300 years, piano repertoire has taken enormous strides from its well-behaved, Well-Tempered Clavier days -- Supové shows herself to be the flamboyant inheritor of a postmodern tradition that encompasses everyone from Liberace to Pierre-Laurent Aimard.

Call up Kathleen Supové's concert above or listen to excerpts below, and don't forget also to explore the Q2 Live Concert archive. You can access Q2 24/7 through our pop-out audio player or iTunes.

(L)PR’s Technical Director is Richie Clarke and this concert was mixed by Damon Whittemore.

Program

Dan Becker, remixed by Elan Vytal: Revolution Remix

Missy Mazzoli: Isabelle Eberhardt Dreams of Pianos

Michael Gatonska: A Shaking of the Pumpkin

Anna Clyne: On Track

Randall Woolf: Sutra Sutra