Tableau: Tempest & Tango Clipper Erickson

• David Finko (1936 - ):
• 1Fantasia on a Medieval Russian Theme11:25
• Piano Sonata No. 1 "Solomon Mikhoels":
• 2I. Burlesco, rubato02:18
• 3II. Energico02:12
• 4III. Concentrato04:58
• 5IV. Animato03:13
• Piano Sonata No. 2:
• 6I. Affannosamente acuto04:56
• 7II. Largo assai, debole08:09
• 8III. Allegro duramente03:19
• 9IV. Allegro05:02
• Piano Sonata No. 3:
• 10Piano Sonata No. 309:03
• Richard Brodhead (1947 - ):
• 11Piano Sonata No. 2 "Sonata notturna"15:46
• 12Tango Sonatina "Una Carta de Buenos Aires"11:14
• Modest Mussorgsky (1839 - 1881): Pictures at an Exhibition:
• 13Promenade I01:22
• 14I. The Gnome02:30
• 15Promenade II00:50
• 16II. The Old Castle04:25
• 17Promenade III00:35
• 18III. Tuileries01:03
• 19IV. Bydło03:08
• 20Promenade IV00:59
• 21V. Ballet of the Chickens in their Shells01:08
• 22VI. Samuel Goldenberg & Schmuÿle02:11
• 23Promenade V01:18
• 24VII. The Marketplace at Limoges01:25
• 25VIIIa. Catacombae (Sepulcrum Romanum)01:52
• 26VIIIb. Con Mortuis in Lingua Mortua03:01
• 27IX. The Hut on Fowl's Legs "Baba-Yagá"03:11
• 28X. The Great Gate at Kiev05:10
• Total Runtime01:55:43

Info for Tableau: Tempest & Tango

Navona Records artist Clipper Erickson presents a solo piano album of works by composers Richard Brodhead (1947- ), David Finko (1936-), and Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) entitled TABLEAU TEMPEST & TANGO.

The mostly Russian-themed album climaxes with Erickson’s masterful interpretation of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. The original version for solo piano precedes the iconic orchestrations by many composers, most notably Maurice Ravel. For Erickson, the piano is his orchestra, and he conducts it marvelously through every movement, down to the famed finale, The Great Gate of Kiev.

Stellar, too, is Erickson’s interpretation of Finko’s Fantasia on a Medieval Russian Theme, which is inspired by a grievous poem about the oppression of the Russian people. Mussorgsky also used this poem, incorporating it as part of the libretto for the Act I choral scene of his Khovanshchina (1880).

The severity, which is truly captured in Finko’s fantasy, is made spiritual by Erickson’s interpretation. Finko’s Sonata No. 1 Solomon Mikhoels is next. It has folk roots--budding from the composer’s interest in Yiddish and Slavic cultures. Erickson executes the polarity in dynamic contrast and rhythmic complexity with incredible manual dexterity. Finko writes that his Sonata No. 2 “expresses the acute feelings of a sensitive intellectual who goes through several stages of personal sufferings and struggle.” This journey is demonstrated by Erickson’s acute attention to mood, even in the subtlest of harmonic progressions. Finko’s Sonata No. 3, composed in 2009, is evocative of the evolution of the composer’s technique since his first sonata in 1964. Erickson, too, shows an evolution -- the melodies become more fluid, the separation between each note more precise.

The listener is transported to Argentina where Erickson presents Richard Brodhead’s Una Carta de Buenos Aires, a truly dark tango. It is mysterious and vacant, but Erickson handles it like a delicate flower. The finale is Brodhead’s Sonata No. 2, Sonata Notturna, dark, too, in its presentation, but Erickson’s light shines on the meditation of terrors we hear at night.

As evidenced on his previous recording, 2015’s MY CUP RUNNETH OVER, Professor Erickson’s prodigious performances are not only products of his superior musicianship, but also the in-depth studies he completes on every work performed. This is the best collection of such works to date. TABLEAU TEMPEST & TANGO is a must-have for the collections of piano dilettantes and savants alike. As the LA Times notes, Erickson plays “with extraordinary dash and power and he never let[s] flamboyance obscure art.”

Clipper Erickson, piano

Clipper Erickson
made his debut at age nineteen in Los Angeles as soloist with the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra, followed by studies at The Juilliard School, Yale University, and Indiana University, where he trained with the renowned British pianist John Ogdon. Erickson has won top prizes at international competitions and performs as soloist with orchestras throughout the US, as well as recitalist in venues including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Carnegie Hall, and Symphony Space in New York.

Erickson’s first Navona release, MY CUP RUNNETH OVER – THE COMPLETE PIANO WORKS OF R. NATHANIEL DETT, was honored by Gramophone UK in 2016 as a critic’s choice and best album of the year while writing: “this historically and musically important release not only fills a crucial catalogue gap but sets reference standards. No serious aficionado of the history of American piano music can afford to miss it.” His prior albums have often featured American music from past and present, often of lesser-known composers, as well as world premieres.

Committed to encouraging the love of music in future generations of musicians, he performs regularly in schools and gives master classes. Erickson is a faculty member of Westminster Conservatory in Princeton, Temple University, and Rutgers University.

Booklet for Tableau: Tempest & Tango