Glass: Dreaming Awake Bruce Levingston

• 1 Etudes, Book 1: No. 2, 09:05
• 2 Etudes, Book 2: No. 11, 07:45
• 3 The Illusionist Suite (Arr. B. Levingston for Piano): I. The Illusionist 02:56
• 4 The Illusionist Suite (Arr. B. Levingston for Piano): II. The Orange Tree 01:56
• 5 The Illusionist Suite (Arr. B. Levingston for Piano): III. The Locket 03:08
• 6 The Illusionist Suite (Arr. B. Levingston for Piano): IV. Life in the Mountains 03:55
• 7 Etudes, Book 2: No. 16, 04:06
• 8 Etudes, Book 2: No. 17, 12:45
• 9 Wichita Vortex Sutra 07:26
• 10 Dreaming Awake 07:28
• 11 Etudes, Book 1: No. 1, 05:30
• 12 Etudes, Book 1: No. 5, 09:41
• 13 Etudes, Book 1: No. 6, 05:43
• 14 Etudes, Book 2: No. 12, 08:23
• 15 Etudes, Book 1: Etude No. 9 03:09
• 16 Etudes, Book 1: Etude No. 10 06:15
• 17 Metamorphosis II 10:21
• Total Runtime 01:49:32

Info zu Glass: Dreaming Awake

Pianist Bruce Levingston has had a long and celebrated association with Philip Glass and his music. In 2004, the composer wrote his musical tribute to the painter Chuck Close especially for Levingston who premiered the work at New York City's Lincoln Center. The following year, Glass joined Levingston in the same venue for a series of piano duos in a concert that also featured Levingston's longtime friend and Chelsea Hotel neighbor actor Ethan Hawke. At that concert, Levingston and Hawke performed Glass's Wichita Vortex Sutra that includes a narration of Allen Ginsburg's eponymous poem. Glass and Ginsberg had performed and recorded it themselves, but the composer enthusiastically blessed this performance by a new generation of artists. Glass, Hawke and Levingston then performed together the finale of Einstein on the Beach. Glass later invited Levingston to join him in premiering his complete Etudes at The Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City in 2014.

Now this extraordinary group of artists is reunited in this Sono Luminus release of Bruce Levingston's new album Dreaming Awake. Levingston, an acclaimed concert pianist and recording artist whose last album, 'Heavy Sleep', was named one the 'Best Recordings of the 2015' by The New York Times, pays tribute to Philip Glass with an exploration of his works that spans the length of the composer's career. The recording includes the world premiere of The Illusionist Suite, ten of the composer's dramatic and deeply moving etudes, as well as the richly colored tone poems Dreaming Awake, Metamorphosis No. 2 and Wichita Vortex Sutra featuring Ethan Hawke as guest artist reading the Allen Ginsberg poem.

This new 2-disc album radiates with what what The New York Times calls 'Mr Levingston's mastery of nuance and color' and 'his extraordinary gifts as a colorist and performer who can hold attention rapt with the softest playing' ( MusicWeb International ). It is a very intimate and personal tribute from one of the most sensitive and poetic pianists of our time to one of the most influential and acclaimed composers of our era.

'[ a ] passionate and spontaneous portrait of the composer .... Dreaming Awake (Sono Luminus) is a boldly individual approach to the keyboard works of an American master. Even Levingston's stellar choice of collaborator fits the bill... . Levingston recruits thespian Ethan Hawke, Hollywood's Gen-X embodiment of Romanticism, and Hawke's breathless delivery is absolutely of a piece with the almost cinematic heroics of Levingston's vision for these pathbreaking works.' (Daniel Stephen Johnson, WQXR-Q2)

Bruce Levingston, piano

Bruce Levingston
is one of today's leading figures in contemporary music. Many of the world's most important composers have written works for him and his Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center world premiere performances of their works have won notable critical acclaim. The New York Times has called him 'one of today's most adventurous musicians' and praises his performances as 'graceful', 'dreamy, and 'hauntingly serene.' The New Yorker has described him as 'elegant and engaging... a poetic pianist who has a gift for glamorous programming,' while The Washington Post has lauded his 'wonderfully even touch' and 'timeless reverie, which Levingston projected beautifully.'

Mr. Levingston has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in many international music festivals and his recordings have received high critical acclaim. His CD Still Sound was named 'Record of the Month' by MusicWeb International which praised his 'extraordinary gifts as a colorist and a performer who can hold attention rapt with the softest of playing.' In a glowing review of his recent CD Nightbreak, The American Record Guide wrote 'Levingston is a pianist's pianist' and praised his 'stunning and highly illuminating performances', Gramophone called his playing 'masterly'. Levingston's CD Heart Shadow, also received notable praise and was named 'Album of the Week' by New York City's WQXR. The Cleveland Plain Dealer called Levingston's recording 'vivid and richly expressive...a gripping, dynamic performance' and Classics Today lauded his CD Portraits for its 'transcendent virtuosity and huge arsenal of tone color.'

Noted for his innovative and thoughtful programming, Mr. Levingston has performed and collaborated with some of the most interesting artists of our time including painter Chuck Close, actor/author Ethan Hawke, authors Michael Cunningham, Nick McDonell, and George Plimpton, composer/performers Lisa Bielawa and Philip Glass, violinist Colin Jacobsen, and choreographers Jorma Elo and Peter Quanz. His repertoire spans from the Baroque works of Bach and Scarlatti to the Classical and Romantic masterpieces of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms to the most avant-garde works of today. His programs often feature and highlight many of the twentieth century's most influential composers including Satie, Debussy, Bartok, Webern, and Messiaen. In 2007, Mr. Levingston played a critically acclaimed sold-out concert devoted to the music of Erik Satie at New York's French Institute/Alliance Française.

Long interested in human rights, Mr. Levingston gave performances to assist emerging 'refusniks' from the Soviet Union, served as a U.S. delegate to the American Council on Germany in Berlin and Hamburg, and performed at the United Nations in honor of the people of Denmark for their heroism during World War II. He is founding chair and artistic director of Premiere Commission, Inc., a non-profit foundation that has commissioned and premiered over forty new works.

In 2007, Mr. Levingston appeared as special guest artist at New York's City Center for the world premiere of American Ballet Theatre's production of a new ballet inspired by Chuck Close's life with music by Philip Glass. In 2008, Mr. Levingston performed a critically acclaimed sold-out solo concert at Carnegie Hall premiering works by Grawemeyer Award-winner Sebastian Currier, Germany's celebrated Wolfgang Rihm and Pulitzer Prize-winner Charles Wuorinen. In 2009, Mr. Levingston gave the world premiere of Rome Prize-winner Lisa Bielawa's 'Elegy-Portrait'; in 2010, he performed another all-French program for the Alliance Française in New York and, in 2011, performed premieres by David Bruce, Sebastian Currier and Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky with the brilliant violinist Colin Jacobsen at Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. and Carnegie Hall in New York City. The New York Times reported that 'Mr. Levingston has found a soul mate in Colin Jacobsen... they joined forces in the kind of recital for which each has become known: driven by ideas and filled with music old, new and well worth hearing.' In 2012, Mr. Levingston celebrated the Tenth Anniversary of Premiere Commission in a special sold-out gala concert with Brooklyn Rider and Lisa Bielawa at the Poisson Rouge. Mr. Levingston records for Orange Mountain Music and Dorian Sono Luminus.

Booklet für Glass: Dreaming Awake