Silencios
6,00 € VAT included
Only 2 left in stock
Recorded in October 2000 at the Bachzaal, Amsterdam.
Composed By – Bart Spaan
Piano – Ralph van Raat
“It is always delightful when great musical talents meet. Ralph van Raat is still young and has already often proved himself as an excellent pianist with much affinity with contemporary music. In 1999 he rightly won the International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition, to mention only one accomplishment. Bart Spaan evolved rapidly into a composer with a broad imagination and a distinguishable language. Especially since his collaboration with the Spanish painter Alberto Reguera, he has written a number of works that deserves more attention. Recently these works – with the help of Ralph van Raat – appeared on a beautiful cd. It contains three works for piano and two compositions for tape. Three of them – Los infinitos caminos, Silencios and Castilla – were written as reflection on similary titled paintings by Reguera, while the other two – Valavond and Siguan – inspired Reguera for his canvases. The mutual inspiration is evident. In stead of an extensive explanation the direct appealing canvases of Reguera are reproduced in the cd-booklet. The abstract paintings excel in colour and emotion and perfectly suit the calm and thin soundscapes of Spaan. Like the paintings seem to look for an image in the surfaces of colour, Spaan similarly searches for a world behind an interval or a row of tones. Silent, meditative as in the quietest works of John Cage, he explores his music. In the meanwhile Spaan understands the art of holding the listener’s attention with a minimum of means. In the piano works Ralph van Raat probably deserves the credit, but in the tapecompositions Spaan has to operate alone. And in these works, Castilla and Silencios, he perhaps draws even nearer to his ideal sound, compared to when the piano keys intervene. Silencios is at least the best this cd has to offer. Listen to the thirteen minute lasting track, look at the reproduction of Reguera’s painting in the meanwhile, and be surprised.” PJ
