Album

This extraordinary performance uses the simple idea of dance to link music from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, from eastern and western Europe, from the Old and New Worlds. British pianist Kathryn Stott selects music by composers usually classified as modern (Stravinsky, Bartók), as late Romantic (Brahms, Tchaikovsky), as nationalist (Dvorák, Albéniz, Villa-Lobos), and as semi-popular (Ernesto Lecuona, Astor Piazzolla, and Camargo Guarnieri, whose name is misspelled in the tracklist), as well as several composers who do not fit any of these categories. All of these composers wrote music rooted in the popular dances of the times in which they worked, and the continuity of the dance tradition, in Stott's hands, comes to seem as important as the various "watershed" moments generally thought to define the music of the early twentieth century. The placement of Chopin's Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17/4, at the end of the program has an exquisitely nostalgic feel, suggesting the sensation of a glance back at a venerated ancestor for all the music. Stott moves effortlessly between famous pieces like the Sibelius Valse Triste, Op. 44, and oddities like Graham Fitkin's Old Style, which here receives its first recording. The idea of the dance is certainly pushed in different directions by these composers: toward the minimal by Satie, toward the geometric by Stravinsky, and toward the satirical by Shostakovich. Stott arranges the program in such a way that a new perspective on the same kind of basic material appears at every turn, and she seems equally comfortable with diverse kinds of material. Especially noteworthy is her version of Astor Piazzolla's Milonga del Ángel, in an arrangement for solo piano by Kyoko Yamamoto: Stott creates a fair facsimile of Piazzolla's bandoneón rolls and his general sensuously grim mood. This disc is easy enough on the ears, but it will keep you coming back again and again. Chandos' sound is superb.

© James Manheim, All Music Guide

CD 1
Dmitri Shostakovich Composer 3 Danses fantastiques, Op.5 Work 4:11 Kathryn Stott Piano
1	1.March: Allegretto	1:31			$0.99
2	2.Waltz: Andantino. Allegretto	1:43			$0.99
3	3.Polka: Allegretto	0:57			$0.99
Alberto Ginastera Composer 3 Danzas argentinas, Op.2 Work Kathryn Stott Piano
4	2.Danza de la moza donosa (Dance of the Graceful Maiden)	4:21			$0.99
Béla Bartók Composer Román népi táncok (6 Romanian Folk Dances), BB68, Sz.56 Work 4:16 Kathryn Stott Piano
5	1.Stick Dance	1:03			$0.99
6	2.Sash Dance	0:24			$0.99
7	3.In One Spot	0:49			$0.99
8	4.Dance of Buchum (Hornpipe Dance)	0:40			$0.99
9	5.Romanian Polka	0:29			$0.99
10	6.Fast Dance	0:51			$0.99
Antonín (Leopold) Dvořák Composer 2 Pieces, B.136, Op.12 Work Kathryn Stott Piano
11	1.Dumka in C-	4:10			$0.99
Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky Composer 6 Morceaux, Op.51 Work Kathryn Stott Piano
12	2.Polka peu dansante	4:10			$0.99
Jean Sibelius Composer Kuolema, Op.44 (Death No.1) Work Kathryn Stott Piano
13	1.Valse triste (extract)	5:11			$0.99
Camargo Guarnieri Composer Dança negra Work Kathryn Stott Piano
14	Dança negra	3:32			$0.99
Ernesto Lecuona Composer A Media Noche, for piano Work Kathryn Stott Piano
15	A Media Noche, for piano	3:04			$0.99
Isaac Albéniz Composer España: 6 hojas de album, Op.165, B.37 Work Kathryn Stott Piano
16	2.Tango	2:12			$0.99
Graham Fitkin Composer Old Style, for piano Work Kathryn Stott Piano
17	Old Style, for piano	2:39			$0.99
Astor Piazzolla Composer Ángel series, tangos for chamber ensemble Work Kathryn Stott Piano
18	2.Milonga del angel	6:36			$0.99
Heitor Villa-Lobos Composer Valsa da dor (Waltz) in D, A.316 Work Kathryn Stott Piano
19	Valsa da dor (Waltz) in D, A.316	4:54			$0.99
Johannes Brahms Composer Hungarian Dances, WoO1, Bk.1-2 (piano version)...Book 1 Work Kathryn Stott Piano
20	No.1 in G-	3:04			$0.99
Erik Satie Composer Je te veux (I Want You), café-concert song Work Kathryn Stott Piano
21	Je te veux (I Want You), café-concert song (tr. for piano)	5:39			$0.99
Igor Stravinsky Composer Tango, for chamber orchestra Work Kathryn Stott Piano
22	Tango, for chamber orchestra (tr. for piano)	3:08			$0.99
Frédéric François Chopin Composer 4 Mazurkas, Op.17 Work Kathryn Stott Piano
23	4.No.4 in A-	5:09			$0.99