Alexei Lubimov DER BOTE

This is one of the best discs to have crossed my palm for some time. This package as a whole simply works so well. Here we have a themed compilation that doesn’t pamper to any trend, but has its own voice and something to say. Der Bote (The Messenger), the title, is attributed to Lubimov and is also the title of the last piece on the disc. The theme is mainly one of melancholy, with elegiac pieces that run the whole gamut of pianistic compositions, from CPE Bach to John Cage. The Cage piece sees him in unusually tonal territory; it’s a beautiful, and evocative piece with a definite whiff of the East. Lubimov’s intelligent coupling of these two pieces sets the tone for the whole imaginative collection.
When the 20th-century pieces are heard, there’s no feeling of a bitter pill surrounded by a sugared coating. There are offerings from Tigran Mansurian and the Russian Valentin Silvestrov. Chuck in a bit of Debussy, Bartók and Liszt and you have a fine recipe for an hour’s enjoyable comtemplation. Lubimov has a wonderful sense of darkness when need be, such as in Silvestrov’s Webernesque “Elegie” and a beautiful porcelain lightness in pieces such as Cage’s “In A Landscape”. His playing is laced with colour and mood and makes for a beautifully crafted disc. (Stephen Priest, Pianist)