Matt Choboter And Tania Giannouli: Pianistics

More than merely a study in contrasts, these recordings by Matt Choboter and Tania Giannouli are mirror images of each other. Both artists take markedly different approaches to illustrate the versatility of the three-hundred plus year old percussion instrument that is the piano. On the one hand, Giannouli's recording is the definition of bare-bones, at least on the surface. But as a composite of her alone in front of an audience, taken from multiple concerts, deep in the spirit of the moment, then formulated as a facsimile of a single performance, it is an almost direct corollary to Choboter's extensive effort, which involved multiple recordings at different sites, plus additional mixes designed to capture the multi-layered aspects of the album title. Each album is, in its own way, a vivid illustration of work(s) by musicians who fully deserve the appellation 'recording artists;' while neither one is necessarily superior to the other, the connection between the two is so abundantly clear that, for all intents and purposes, distinctions of quality become moot.

Matt Choboter
Postcards Of Nostalgia
ILK Records
2023

A literal description of this music 'for microtonal prepared piano & live electronics' hardly scratches the surface of this thirty-nine some minutes that virtually define the word ethereal. In much the same way the Canadian-born musician/composer delved into the netherworld of sleep and dreams on Sleep Inertia (Songlines, 2022), he proceeds fearlessly into the realm of reminiscence here, unafraid of what his efforts might reveal. On the contrary, in recording the ten tracks at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory, then 're-amping' them in St. Augustine's Church in December 2020, Choboter and engineer Simon Mariegaard dissect, then reassemble, remembrance layer by layer. The initial sounds of the modified keyboard during "Temptations Toward Sorcery" are altered when played in a room that then bestows an ambiance all its own; it's as if the sounds that comprise such a track and "Font-de-Gaume" reverberate with the original memory plus the overlays of emotion that can change/distort them over time. Copious notes in a twelve-page booklet devoted to the sources and evolution of this music are as absorbing as the cover design of Zilvinas Jagela. Nonetheless, the intellectualism of the prose by the artist himself and the photo imaging by Raphael Gimenes can only go so far to accurately describe what happens here. It's much preferable to become immersed in selections like "Descent to Deep Valley Water," at least to begin a compelling experience that echoes from start to finish (then beyond). As with the album as a whole, the latter track ends as soon as it begins or at least so it seems, just like the fondest recalling(s) we ever know.

Tania Giannouli
Solo
Rattle Records
2023

Comprising two-dozen tracks running just seconds shy of seventy-two minutes duration is evidence aplenty of Tania Giannouli's mercurial imagination. And just as the straightforward album title represents her abiding modesty, so does it hint at the Greek pianist's unwillingness to overstate: as nimble as she is on the ivories (and under the lid of her instrument), her self-restraint is the very source of how spellbinding are numbers like "Transportal." So too are the more melodious likes of "Novelette," its all-encompassing progression of notes all the more enveloping for its clarity in comparison to the amorphous likes of the preceding cut. That she can also play with the utmost insistence—hear "Broken Blossom" for instance—is proof positive of the emotional range she commands, not to mention her intuitive knowledge of the capabilities of the instrument: those two elements are graphic reflections of each other as well as the foundational components of her personal style. The composition of Solo also stands as a vivid corollary to the involved process Matt Choboter adopted for his album: George Kariotis and Alex Aretaios' recording of Giannouli at Athens Concert Hall, subsequently mixed by the former and mastered by Steve Garden, reveals the splendor of the spontaneous moments in the room, the scope of which, on "Prelude" and "The Call," belies its fulsome source: multiple captures of a single performer deeply immersed in the effort to (successfully) embody inspiration itself. The air of finality emanating from "Punkt" and "Folegandros" demonstrates an inescapable logic, one all the more welcome as a dramatic denouement to a string of suspenseful moments.

Tracks and Personnel

Postcards Of Nostalgia Tracks: The Dreamer Remains; Font-De- Gaume; Eleunisian Mystery; Castalian Spring; Temptations Toward Sorcery; Pneuma; Descent To Deep Valley Water; The Circular Ruins; Weaving Ropes Of Sand; Omphalos.

Personnel: Matt Choboter: microtonal prepared piano, electronics, compositions; Simon Mariegaard: recording, mixing, mastering, production.

Solo Tracks: Transportal; Novelette; Metal Snake; Intone; Broken Blossom; Two Notes; Epilogue; Demagnitude; Spiral; Hidden; Prelude; The Call; Grey Blue; Poise; Same Dream; Black Sea; Gecko; Out of; Gaspard; Twin Star; Punkt; Folegandros; Light Sleeper; Unfailing Stars.

Personnel: Tania Giannouli: piano.

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