The German-Japanese pianist Alice Sara Ott is one of several young artists trying to break out from the pack of young recitalists, with creatively enjoyable results for listeners. She cultivates a high-fashion look and, still unusually in the concert music realm, uses videos to promote her music. Here she takes a venerable theme, that of the musical nocturne, and tries to bring fresh approaches to some familiar works. Partly it's that some of the music isn't conventionally thought of as "night music"; the Gnossiennes and ...
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The German-Japanese pianist Alice Sara Ott is one of several young artists trying to break out from the pack of young recitalists, with creatively enjoyable results for listeners. She cultivates a high-fashion look and, still unusually in the concert music realm, uses videos to promote her music. Here she takes a venerable theme, that of the musical nocturne, and tries to bring fresh approaches to some familiar works. Partly it's that some of the music isn't conventionally thought of as "night music"; the Gnossiennes and Gymnopédies of Satie don't specifically refer to nightfall, and despite its title, Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit is no nocturne. Except that, in Ott's hands, it is. Nightfall for her is not a mere atmospheric mood but a moment of deep introspection, and many of her interpretations run counter to type or seem to raise psychological issues. Sample the technically perilous Scarbo movement from Gaspard de la nuit, which is generally a test of pianistic muscle. Ott, in her own trenchant notes,...
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