Benjamin Lees: Piano Music, 1947-2005
Benjamin Lees (1924–2010) was one of the senior figures in American music, with a large catalogue of powerful and inventive music to his credit. The works on this CD span almost sixty years of compositional activity but are unified by a number of consistent stylistic features: a wiry and muscular athleticism with its distant roots in Prokofiev and Bartók, a quasi-Impressionist awareness of piano sonority, a tough, no-nonsense sense of humour and an exhilarating onward drive.
Mirian Conti, piano
Listen To This Recording:
- Toccata (1947)
- No. 1
- No. 2
- No. 3
- No. 4
- No. 5
- No. 6
- No. 1
- No. 2
- No. 3
- Sonata Breve (1956)
- No. 1
- No. 2
- No. 3
Six Ornamental Etudes (1957)
Three Preludes (1962)
Odyssey Nos 1–3 (1971, 1986, 2005)
MusicWeb International :
‘torrential power … Lees engages a dark and fantastic imagination’
—Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International
AllMusic :
‘…for those with an interest in this area, Toccata Classics’ Benjamin Lees: Piano Music 1947-2005 will prove essential. Conti’s performance is dedicated and authoritative, and Toccata Classics’ recording is stunningly realistic.’
—Uncle Dave Lewis, AllMusic
Gramophone :
‘Conti is a fine player and reinforces her advocacy of the music in the booklet-notes. […]
The forthright and ample recorded sound fits the musical content well, and informed annotation is more extensive […] than most other labels dare to attempt.’
—Arnold Withtall, Gramophone
Classical Mailing List :
‘The 6 Ornamental Etudes (1957) contain a lot of what makes Lees such an original. A wonderful set. Argentinean-born Mirian Conti, an artist new to me, does a bang-up job. Her control of loud and soft is superb […] One can see why Lees wanted to write for her. One of my favorite CDs this year.’
—Steve Schwartz, Classical Mailing List
Classic Net :
‘The 6 Ornamental Etudes (1957) contain a lot of what makes Lees such an original. Unusually, the composer makes etudes out of, at bottom, ornamental figures and elevates something normally considered superficial or added-on to primary interest. Furthermore, like Chopin, he makes real music out of them as well. The etudes not only concern certain piano techniques, but modes of expression. […] Furthermore, each item, despite its brevity, conveys something deeper, without either inflating a trivial idea or short-changing a profound one. The longer you listen, the more they seem part of a whole. […] A wonderful set. […]
Argentinean-born Mirian Conti, an artist new to me, does a bang-up job. Her fingers not only mold the steel and fire of Lees’ idiom, but she has a firm grasp on what usually comes down to complex structure. Her control of loud and soft is superb, capable both of sudden spikes without banging and smooth crescendo and especially diminuendo. One can see why Lees wanted to write for her. One of my favorite CDs this year.’
—Steve Schwartz, Classic Net
Music & Vision :
‘It comes as a pleasant surprise to those of us who are not familiar with his piano music that the Argentinian pianist Mirian Conti has produced a recital that so well represents his relatively small solo piano output. Not that everything is here by any means — that would take at least another CD which I trust is on its way (there are apparently four sonatas!), but it does provide a very satisfying retrospective. […]
Lees’ piano pieces is played with outstanding commitment, understanding and skill — as is the whole worthy recital.’
—Patric Standford, Music & Vision
AllMusic :
‘Toccata Classics’ Benjamin Lees: Piano Music 1947-2005 [is] a survey of what has been a 60-year odyssey in the realm of the keyboard, played by a handpicked expert interpreter of Lees’ piano output, Mirian Conti. […]
For those with an interest in [Great American Keyboard], Toccata Classics’ Benjamin Lees: Piano Music 1947-2005 will prove essential. Conti’s performance is dedicated and authoritative, and Toccata Classics’ recording is stunningly realistic.’
—Uncle Dave Lewis, AllMusic
Scott Morrison :
‘His music, always approachable but never easy at first hearing, has the benefit of impeccable craft, ingenuity, engaging dramatic gesture, the element of surprise and rhythmic inventiveness. His moods can range from warm to cool, passionate to meditative, diffident to fierce. And always his music grabs you with its integrity and spirit. […]
Each of the [Odysseys] teems with incident, engaging gesture, rhythmic variation that keeps one guessing, extended tonal and modal harmonies, and Lees’ inherent narrative sense. […]
Mirian Conti, long resident in New York and noted for her devotion to music from both South and North America, is the perfect pianist for these works. She is clearly a musician of great intellectual grasp coupled with the instincts and technique of a first-class pianist. One notes her crystal clear articulation of Lees’ otherwise potentially smudgeable contrapuntal lines and her understanding of the music’s emotional content. She is playing a well-regulatedHamburg Steinway and is given terrific recorded sound by recording engineer Fabiola Russo. […]
The informative booklet notes are by the redoubtable Martin Anderson, founder of the Toccata Label and a well-known writer on contemporary music. There are also helpful notes by the composer about the pieces presented here. Mirian Conti contributes an essay about playing Lees’ music.
An unqualified endorsement.’
—Scott Morrison
International Piano Selection :
‘Argentinian pianist Mirian Conti tosses [the Toccata] off with considerable panache. […]
Conti doesn’t disappoint [in Etudes] […]
Odyssey–written over a period of time–is the pinnacle of the composer’s achievement and a tour de force for the pianist. Here he draws together all his mastery, exploiting the ranges of the instrument to take us on his journey into the unknown. Conti’s outstanding technique and insightful understanding make for a thrilling experience.’
—Shirley Ratcliffe, International Piano Selection, July-August 2008