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