A piano dream about classical music - from Modest Mussorgski and "Pictures from the Exhibition", through Liszt paraphrasing Bach, to contemporary Scolnik - made with a twinkle in the eyes ...

Not many people know Ana Silvestru, for example from the fact that she is a Romanian artist, and commercial-pop stars from Eska like Inna are more likely to be smuggled into Poland rather than instrumentalists, first off. Secondly, because Silvestru is a classical pianist, conoisseurs who usually listen to the Dwójka Radio will hear about her sooner than fans of Kinsky, Jude, Rigor Mortiss or other bands represented by Requiem Records. This is what the series on classical music is for. To develop horizons, to open up to new ones. Classical music, whether played in the old style or recreated, music composed by great and young composers - the reason behind Opus Series.

Ana Silvestru prepared an album for Requiem some time ago, but the rich edition of Dreams of a Pianist and, after all, the difficult nature of the album forced me to postpone my acquaintance with the Romanian pianist's album for later. And the third factor - the instrument itself. Alone, and only one on the entire album. Silvestru only used the piano, she also reached for classics in the musical layer, and as an insert in the box there was an interesting and considerable musicological analysis of the artist herself. She made it very interesting to read, carefully taking up the topic of the album, but what about the music itself?

First, the classics. For the opening - Franz Liszt, who took up the subject of Bach. Hence the nearly sixteen-minute-long "Variations On Bach's Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen" written by Liszt in one of the most difficult periods of his life, that is, when his two children died. Anyway, the work itself takes on a monumental, maddening form, sometimes touching on a sonic psychosis. Silvestru at the piano enchants reality, creating an atmosphere full of uncertainty and dignity. And although these are variations of Liszt, who paraphrased Johann Sebastian Bach, the Romanian artist on Dreams of a Pianist starts with a bang.

It could not have been otherwise in the second and third indexes, because Silvestru was immersed in the works of Vladimir Scolnic, a Ukrainian composer born in 1947, who for years studied composition in Bucharest. Here are his two compositions - from 2010 "Keyboard Games" and "Simply Irresistible Dreams Of A Pianist" from 1995. Interestingly, both pieces are very similar to each other, based on the same solutions, although Scolnic wrote them for two different instruments. It's mainly about the nervousness and jumping of sounds during the track, but aldo simplicity at times. Because, as the title suggests, "Keyboard Games" is nothing more than exercises. And "Simply Irresistible Dreams Of A Pianist"? So much is going on here! Changes of themes, from joy to melancholy and dark colors of the piano, which Scolnic, by the way, considered prepared so as to also play on the strings.

But the huge tribute Ana Silvestru paid to Modest Mussorgsky and his work "Pictures at an Exhibition" cannot be ignored. The artist entered the subject in an exemplary manner, emphasizing Mussorgsky's composing skills. Of course, the orthodox translation through carbon paper is out of the question, because Silvestru approached the subject with respect and youthful verve at the same time. Importantly, both the references to Hartmann's drawings and the promenade cycle (four short compositions) intertwine with each other, changing the atmosphere of the album over and over again. We are dealing here with a young and talented, praised in many countries and now living in Switzerland representative of new classical music (whatever it sounds like), i.e. reaching for the classics, but with a twinkle in her eyes. On Dreams of a Pianist it was made possible.
_{Piotr Strzemieczny}