Vanessa Benelli Mosell – [R]evolution (2015) [Qobuz 24bit/96kHz]

Vanessa Benelli Mosell – [R]evolution (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 00:58:02 minutes | 821 MB | Genre: Classical
Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | @ Decca
Recorded: February, June 2014

[R]evolution celebrates the Decca debut for Italian pianist Vanessa Benelli Mosell and is a tribute to the music of the twentieth century.

When was the last time you heard any Stockhausen? Since his death, at the end of 2007, the German avant-gardist’s star has fallen in a reverse curve to that of his French comrade, Pierre Boulez. Hardly any Stockhausen is being recorded these days, and there are few concerts where the music can be heard. So an album by a young pianist who worked with the composer in his final years is a welcome opportunity to revisit a brave old world that has virtually vanished.

And it’s not hard to see why. Stockhausen’s 8 Klavierstücke (piano pieces), written between 1952 and 1961 as the composer was making his mark, are the kind of stuff that gave the avant-garde a bad name for random plinky-plonks and unprovoked violence. Vanessa Benelli Mosell makes the eight morsels sound reasonably structured and almost musical at times, but the grim austerity of Stockhausen’s sound world simply cannot be dispelled and the ear is grateful for every silence it can grab.

The album’s other works are more appealing, and winningly played. Karl Beffa’s 2008 suite is designed for either piano or harpsichord; having heard it played on one, I now crave the other. And Stravinsky’s Three Movements from Petrushka are hammered out with a reckless Russian brutalism, so much more feral than Stockhausen’s car-crash. Mosell, 28, has put together a really clever programme. But all she reveals by juxtaposition is Stockhausen’s mechanical lack of a human touch. -sinfinimusic.com

Tracklist:
Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928 – 2007)
1. Klavierstück I 03:04
2. Klavierstück II 01:52
3. Klavierstück III 00:38
4. Klavierstück IV 02:08
5. Klavierstück V 05:32
6. Klavierstück VII 06:56
7. Klavierstück VIII 02:16
8. Klavierstück IX 10:59
Karol Beffa (1973 – )
Suite pour Piano ou clavecin
9. 1. La volubile 01:52
10. 2. La ténébreuse 03:16
11. 3. La déjantée 04:01
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (1882 – 1971)
Trois mouvements de Petrouchka
12. 1. Danse russe 02:29
13. 2. Chez Petrouchka 04:32
14. 3. La Semaine Grasse 08:33