Berlin PianoPercussion, Crossing Currents. Telos : TLS227 [Album review]

Abstract

The performative turn in our field has, a bit further down the New Music production line, resulted in a shift away from composer-portrait CDs (the foundational model of the Deutsche Musikrat) towards ensemble-portrait CDs. One of the less obvious consequences of this shift is the increased importance (or at least emphasis) on performers as curators. The present disc, therefore, is as much a product of Berlin PianoPercussion’s artistic director Prodromos Symeonidis. To be sure, this is far from an external position: Symeonidis, alongside Ya-ou Xie, is one of the founding members of the ensemble and performs as a pianist in all but the final track of the disc; for her part Xie performs both as a pianist and occasional conductor of the ensemble. While the forces employed in their repertoire never appear to exceed two pianos and two percussionists, the ensemble boasts six total members who rotate on different pieces: Symeonidis, Xie, and Sawami Kiyoshi as pianists and Adam Weisman, Matthias Buchheim, and Michael Weilacher as percussionists (although Weilacher is not listed on their website as an ensemble member). [excerpt]