Liaisons II: All Things Bright and Beautiful – Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano Anthony de Mare

• 1 Sondheim: Nice is Different Than Good (after “I Know Things Now”) (Arr. for Piano by Timo Andres) 04:17
• 2 Sondheim: Everybody Says Don’t (Arr. for Piano by Mark Bennett) 03:16
• 3 Sondheim: Pretty Lady: Gymnopédie (Arr. for Piano by Stephen Hough) 03:51
• 4 Sondheim: The Gun Song / The Ballad of Booth (Arr. for Piano by Jon Batiste) 07:21
• 5 Sondheim: Another National Anthem (Arr. for Piano by Ted Hearne) 05:07
• 6 Sondheim: Move On (Arr. for Piano by Conrad Tao) 08:38
• 7 Sondheim: Kiss Me (Arr. for Piano by Christopher Cerrone) 04:05
• 8 Sondheim: Rhapsody in Red (after “Goodbye for Now”) (Arr. for Piano by Marc Schubring) 07:20
• 9 Sondheim: Dialogue (after “Poems”) (Arr. for Piano by Meredith Monk) 09:24
• 10 Sondheim: Always (after “I Wish I Could Forget You”) (Arr. for Piano by Paola Prestini) 05:36
• 11 Sondheim: Not a Day Goes By (Arr. for Piano by Jeff Beal) 04:04
• 12 Sondheim: Anyone Can Whistle (Arr. for Piano by Max Richter) 03:33
• 13 Sondheim: Being Alive (Arr. for Piano by Kevin Puts) 04:24
• 14 Sondheim: All Things Bright and Beautiful (Arr. for Piano by Anthony de Mare) 05:49
• Total Runtime 01:16:45

Info for Liaisons II: All Things Bright and Beautiful – Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano

Pianist extraordinaire Anthony De Mare’s landmark commissioning project, Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano, reaches Volume II with a diverse range of 14 tracks by a roll call of contemporary composers from the worlds of classical, jazz, film, indie, pop and musical theatre, including Jon Batiste, Stephen Hough, Meredith Monk, Max Richter, Conrad Tao, with the soloist himself contributing the title track “All Things Bright and Beautiful”.

Launched in 2015 (on ECM Records) with an acclaimed three-volume set – “a revelation … De Mare’s playing superb throughout, a combination of lyrical reflection and extroverted pyrotechnics” (San Francisco Chronicle) – Liaisons II extends the ambitious endeavour that brings together the world’s leading composers to re-imagine the legendary musical theatre composer’s songs for solo piano. Sondheim, the ever-eloquent wordsmith, proclaimed he was “thrilled” with the music: “I think the new pieces are terrific,’ he wrote in October of 2021, simultaneously praising de Mare: “I also like how they show off your piano-playing chops.”

Timed to coincide with the 95th anniversary of Sondheim’s birth, Liaisons II: All Things Bright and Beautiful stands as a celebration of the life and enduring legacy of the exceptional musical theatre giant.

Anthony de Mare, piano
Conrad Tao, piano

Anthony de Mare
is one of the world’s foremost champions of contemporary music. Praised by The New York Times for his “muscularly virtuosic, remarkably uninhibited performance [and] impressive talents”, his versatility has inspired the creation of over 60 new works by some of today’s most distinguished artists, especially in the speaking-singing pianist genre, which he pioneered over 25 years ago with the premiere of Frederic Rzewski’s groundbreaking 'De Profundis'.

Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano is a landmark commissioning and concert project that perfectly expresses his vision to expand both the repertoire and the audience for contemporary music. Most recently, the Chicago Sun-Times declared “that de Mare’s passion and vision almost radiate from the stage … he causes all involved – composers, performer and audience members -- to think about how music is made and how we listen to it.”

As creator, performer and co-producer of The Liaisons Project, de Mare has added another 27 composers to the list of those he has commissioned, and another 36 compositions to the contemporary piano repertoire. Exclusive new works from Steve Reich, Nico Muhly, Wynton Marsalis, Mark Anthony Turnage, Mason Bates, Eve Beglarian, Andy Akiho, DBR, Ethan Iverson, Duncan Sheik and William Bolcom, among others, bring the work of musical theater maestro Stephen Sondheim into the concert hall while spanning the classical contemporary, jazz, film, theater and indie worlds.

Sold-out houses and raves in the New York Times greeted the first New York premieres of The Liaisons Project at Symphony Space. Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times extolled Mr. de Mare’s “formidable virtuosity” and “dynamic & stylish playing.” Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle raved that “Liaisons is a revelation… de Mare’s playing was superb throughout, a combination of lyrical reflection and extroverted pyrotechnics.” In a live onstage interview, Mr. Sondheim called the project “flattering… to hear composers take my music and take it seriously is a thrill.”

The full 3-CD box set recording of the project, produced by Judith Sherman, is now complete and will be released on ECM in September, 2015 accompanied by another major national tour. Upcoming performances include all 36 Liaisons pieces performed in a 3-concert series in New York at Birdland, The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture, and Symphony Space. The adaptability of the program to jazz, theater and classical spaces speaks once again to the range of de Mare’s versatility as a performer.

Mr. de Mare was invited to perform on Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series special event “Reich and Sondheim: In Conversation” earlier this year, and Liaisons was chosen to represent Mr. Sondheim’s oeuvre in the festivities surrounding his receipt of the 2013 Medal of Honor from the MacDowell Colony at the Monadnock Music Festival. An excerpt from the project was also recently featured in the HBO documentary “Six by Sondheim”.

He has performed Liaisons programs across the U.S., Canada and Cuba including Virginia Tech Center for the Arts, The Ravinia Festival, the Gilmore Keyboard Festival, the Virginia Arts Festival, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Schubert Club in Minneapolis, Mondavi Center at UC Davis, Rockport Music Festival, the Cliburn Series in Fort Worth, and Music at Meyer in San Francisco.

Mr. de Mare's performances over the years span five continents, allowing him to develop a growing fan base that extends far beyond the traditional contemporary music audience. In addition to The Liaisons Project, he has premiered works by Frederic Rzewski, James Mobberley, Meredith Monk, Jerome Kitzke, David Rakowski, Pulitzer Prize winners David Del Tredici, Aaron Jay Kernis and Paul Moravec, jazz legend Fred Hersch, and the Tony Award winning composer Jason Robert Brown, among others.

He has been profiled by the Chicago Tribune, The New Yorker, the New York Times, Time Out NY, The Contrapuntist, BroadwayWorld.com, among others, and has been heard in performance and interviews on nationally syndicated shows with WNYC’s John Schaefer, NPR, WQXR and numerous stations across the country.

Since his debut with Young Concert Artists in 1986, his accolades and awards include First Prize and Audience Prize at the International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition (The Netherlands) and The International Competition of Contemporary Piano Music (France). He gave his Carnegie Hall debut at Zankel Hall in 2005. Among his best-known performances are his national tour of The American Piano (with pianist Steven Mayer); Playing With Myself, a multi-media concert event that enjoyed a sold-out run at HERE Arts Center (New York, 2001); Missing Peace, an eclectic series of old and new works inspired by the exhibition The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama at The Rubin Museum in NYC; Cool ~ A Journey into the Influence of Jazz and Unities: Music of Pride and Celebration. Mr. de Mare has also collaborated and performed with the Bang-On-A-Can All Stars, Meredith Monk/The House, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, among many others.

Mr. de Mare has nearly twenty recordings in his discography. In addition to the current release of LIAISONS on ECM, his recording SPEAK! ~ The Speaking-Singing Pianist (Innova) is the first disc devoted completely to the genre he created over twenty years ago. Both SPEAK! and Out of My Hands (KOCH Entertainment) were short listed for Grammy Awards in 2011 and 2005 respectively. For Out of My Hands, American Record Guide raved that “his exquisite touch and impassioned beauty of utterance imbue this program with artistry of the highest order.” American Record Guide also named Wizards and Wildmen: Piano Music of Charles Ives, Henry Cowell and Lou Harrison (CRI /New World) as one of 2000’s Ten Best Releases. Other acclaimed recordings include: Pianos and Voices: Music by John Cage and Meredith Monk, an unprecedented pairing of these two mavericks of the American avant-garde (Koch), Frederic Rzewski - Anthony de Mare (O.O. Discs), and Oblivion, with cellist Maya Beiser (Koch).

Currently professor of piano at Manhattan School of Music and New York University, his commitment to education is evidenced by his residency work at universities across North America, in which he has inspired a whole new generation of pianists and contemporary music advocates, encouraging them to initiate creative strategies as innovative entrepreneurs.

Booklet for Liaisons II: All Things Bright and Beautiful – Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano