The Chronicle Review Corner

This is fine piano playing; the sound is crisp and perhaps a little dry but the cleverness is in making what is complex music sound simple; it’s both accessible and detailed, and it creates atmosphere. It’s hard to pin down what makes it so listenable; listen too hard and you get a little lost in it.

Seria Ludo (“Serious matters treated in a playful spirit”) is the title of the first piece from White Book III, a set of five works inspired by the paintings and woodcuts of British artist Christopher Le Brun.

In his sleeve notes, the composer says that he likes music to be clear enough to the listener that “structures can be perceived” and that “each individual idea should have a sharply defined identity,” which we guess explains the fact that there is always something obvious and melodic to listen to; he also incorporates dance rhythms, citing the example set by Purcell, Mozart, Schubert and Chopin who had “dance rhythms ghosted in the background, or leaped to centre stage in waltzes and mazurkas,” another reason the music is approachable. Small waltz fragments are sometimes tucked away in the music, he says, bringing both familiarity and a sense of movement to the listener.

The music is played by two American pianists: White Book II is performed by Albert Kim who gave the US premiere in 2018 and is associate professor of piano at the University of Central Missouri. The rest of the programme is presented by Paul Sánchez, a Fulbright Fellow and New Piano Collective artist.

—Jeremy Condliffe