This release by pianist
Alexei Lubimov
, known for his work in both early music and contemporary music, is something of a historical document. It was made at a festival in 1994, in the heady days of early post-Communist Russia, and inspired by events six years before that, when
John Cage
visited the Soviet Union and met the then-young
Lubimov
. So this is a historical document that will be of great interest to
Cage
buffs, but it is more than that.
's
Four Walls
is an early work, composed in 1944, the year that, as
notes, the pianist was born. It is not a commonly heard piece, but it is an exceptionally interesting example of the composer's early music. It adumbrates his later experiments (check out the lengthy silence at the beginning of Act 1: VIII), and with a text by
Merce Cunningham
in one of the movements, it also prefigures their growing professional and personal collaboration. As
points out, the work also suggests an early form of the minimalist impulse, and his meditative, emotionally flat performances play up that aspect. This is an intriguing
release all around, and the
Outhere
label deserves credit for bringing the performance to light. ~ James Manheim