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Imago / Moira Lo Bianco

Cobain / Couperin / Germanotta / Bianco,Mario Lo Release Date: 03/11/2016
Label: Steinway & Sons Catalog #: 30060
Composer:  Louis Couperin ,  Erik Satie ,  Cathy Dennis ,  Nirvana  ...  Performer:  Moira Lo Bianco Number of Discs: 1

Moira Lo Bianco weaves together a beautiful musical tapestry in her solo album, Imago. Presenting varied musical forms, including unmeasured preludes, free-form pieces, suites, and song forms, Lo Bianco fuses together popular and unknown, and notation and improvisation to display her masterful artistry. A strong advocate of improvisation, Lo Bianco, through her teachings and live performances, promotes the idea that improvisation is fundamental to music and belongs in the classical tradition.

Album Credits:
Recorded for Spirio on March 6, 2015, April 30, 2015, June 29, 2015, and September 17, 2015 at Steinway Hall, New York City.
Audio Recording made November 24-25, 2015 at Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Read more Virginia.
Producer: Jon Feidner
Audio Recording Engineer: David Angell
Mixing and Mastering Engineer: Daniel Shores
Spirio Editing: Jon Feidner

Executive Producers: Eric Feidner, Jon Feidner
Production Assistant: Robert Hillinck
Design: Cover to Cover Design, Anilda Carasquillo
Cover Photo: Armando Grillo
Spirio Record Piano: Steinway Model B #567568 (New York)
Spirio PIayback Piano: Steinway Model B #576497 (New York)
Piano Technician: Glen Bingham

Reviews:
"This classical pianist is one of those players that isn't afraid to make a program of Cobain/Gaga/Part/Satie and others under the same roof at the same time and make it all work almost with none of the disparate camps being any the wiser. Well trained with an ear and a touch that gives it all back and then some... Hot stuff."

-- Midwest Record [2/25/2016]

"Moira Lo Bianco combines classical rigor with a flair for improvisation... In this freewheeling collection she plays Couperin's D major Sonata with remarkable rhythmic freedom...Arvo Part's 'Fur Alina' is...a dreamlike work that somehow sums up this pianist's gift for creating an environment of mystical plasticity."

-- American Record Guide [7/2016]

"The program of this release by Italian pianist Moira Lo Bianco is nothing if not experimental. Exclusive classical listeners may wonder about the identity of the composer Germanotta listed for track 21 (sample this one and see if pop fans can identify it); it is none other than Lady Gaga. Kurt Cobain also makes an appearance, paired with Britney Spears, with the music of all these rock/pop artists boiled down to Lo Bianco's own distinctive piano style. That style is influenced by Satie, who appears near the beginning as a descendant of François Couperin, the program opener. All this frames a series of Lo Bianco's own compositions, which take off from Satie in a variety of different directions including Middle Eastern music, jazz, and freeform improvisation. These pieces are never dull, and Lo Bianco presents a distinctive way of incorporating pop compositions into a classical piano language: the pop pieces are not "crossover" items. The overall structure of the program, with relatively brief introduction and conclusion framing a substantial utterance from the composer-pianist herself, is also novel... Steinway's engineering, at Steinway Hall in New York and Sono Luminus studios in Virginia, is a major plus: Lo Bianco's piano has a distinct velvety sound..."

-- AllMusic Guide
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