Monumental work of piano recordings gains international acclaim


LAWRENCE — One hesitates to say that an artist in the prime of his life has created his magnum opus, but it’s hard to believe University of Kansas Associate Professor of Piano Steven Spooner will top the 16-CD set of recordings titled “Dedications” that he released in September.

Spooner’s extraordinary artistry and passion for his subject matter, combined with the set’s breadth and depth, have been winning him rave reviews and concert invitations from around the globe.

An exponent of the Russian school of piano, Spooner pays tribute in “Dedications” to his musical inspirations, many of whom trace their lineage back to the 19th century composer and performer Anton Rubinstein. Three volumes are dedicated to the great, Russian-born 20th century American pianist Vladimir Horowitz. Eight records are dedicated to the prodigious Soviet pianist Sviatoslav Richter. Emil Gilels, one of the first Soviets to bring the Russian tradition to America, and Van Cliburn, the golden-toned golden boy from Spooner’s native Louisiana who shocked the world by winning the inaugural Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958 in Moscow, get one volume each.

Each disc contains an audio track giving Spooner’s spoken thoughts on the music contained therein, which he says is a substitute for written notes of the sort that would have appeared on a 12-inch vinyl LP disc jacket or a booklet accompanying a CD. However, the rise of digital music products means that people often choose not to download these anymore — thus the need for audio note, the first of its kind in the field of classical recordings. The 16th disc is actually a DVD, rather than an audio-only CD, recorded during a concert at KU’s Swarthout Recital Hall.

Most of the tracks are Spooner’s solo piano, but one disc – the second in the Richter series — was made in collaboration with the Borromeo String Quartet. They play the Brahms Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34.

Nor are all the tracks strictly classical music. Spooner takes on such popular songs as “Shenandoah,” “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” – even Queen’s “We Are the Champions.” In other cases, he speaks about his admiration for the American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett or gives his thoughts on the art of improvisation.

The bulk of the set, however, is given over to Spooner’s take on the Russian school, admiration for which he comes by honestly. As a young man, Spooner moved to Tbilisi and Moscow in the former Soviet Union and learned to speak Russian and Georgian in order to study for three years with the late pianist and composer Nodar Gabunia, to whom several tracks on the set are dedicated.

“Listening to these records is like a soundtrack of my life,” Spooner said. “I chose to study in Russia because all my favorite pianists were Russian. It deeply influenced my style. So it’s kind of autobiographical. I recorded pieces I remembered they played.”

Spooner said the project, released on his own A Life of Music Records label, didn’t start out so large but grew during a semesterlong sabbatical from teaching he took in fall 2014. The project was completed in 19 months.

“It was going to be just a five-CD project, and then I got the sabbatical, and it started to get larger,” Spooner said. “I wanted it to be both monumental and innovative. … I started to say, ‘Let me tell more of my story.’ Van Cliburn is from Louisiana, and he was the conduit who got me to consider going to Russia. Horowitz was one of my big influences in high school. It’s a big thank-you card to all these great pianists.”

Spooner admitted it was hard, at first, to get critics even to listen to a 16-CD box set, but the positive reviews have begun to roll in. For instance, in the March/April edition of Fanfare magazine, Radu Lelutiu wrote: “Spooner possesses a fearless virtuoso technique. If I were to describe Spooner by reference to his dedicatees, I would say that his performances evidence Richter’s peerless focus, Gilels’ gold-plated sound, Cliburn’s urbane aesthetics and Horowitz’s outgoing personality and his occasional tendency to play to the gallery. In sum, this is a splendid collection that should be heard by anyone who loves piano music.”

The most prestigious piano journal, International Piano in London, has featured the set with a four-star review, and it has likewise been reviewed in the most important publications in North America, Europe and Asia.

Spooner said he was thrilled to be invited by David Dubal, the author, broadcaster and piano professor at the Juilliard School, to give a lecture and concert at the school in February.

“Dubal is the author of ‘Evenings with Horowitz’ and ‘The Art of the Piano,’ which are books I grew up reading,” Spooner said. “He’s been like a beacon to me growing up. He let me in on a world that seemed so distant; that of big-time piano artists. … So when he saw my project and heard it and featured it on his radio show and wanted me to come to Juilliard and play, it was an unbelievable honor. It was deeply and personally meaningful.”

Spooner continues his KU teaching duties, and he has concerts set throughout the year in Asia and Europe.

The box set can be purchased from his record label, alifeofmusic.com/records, or downloaded from iTunes or Google Music or streamed at Spotify.com.

Multimedia: Video and photo courtesy of Associate Professor Steven Spooner.

Tue, 03/21/2017

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Rick Hellman

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Rick Hellman

KU News Service

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