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Few know that every great composer from Bach to Saint Saens was a brilliant improvising performer. Their improvs formed the lifeblood of practically every great classical piece. Until Marcus sat down at my Steinway, I’d never heard an improvised Classical composition. What an eye-opener! I hear in Marcus’ 13 perfectly structured pieces echoes of Liszt’s theatricality, Chopin’s poetry and Rachmaninov’s thunderous immediacy. Most of all, I’m swept up in the boundless power, the utter sincerity of Marcus’s gorgeous playing. Just for background, Raskin was a piano prodigy who left home to study at New York’s Juilliard School at the age of 16. An accomplished pianist with a lifelong commitment to improvised performance, Raskin has also been an intellectual pillar of the movement for progressive social change for nearly a half-century. His CD unifies these passions, weaving drama and breathtaking lyricism into a suite of gripping tableaus of the Cold War, enriched by Mapleshade’s amazingly dynamic piano sound. (#10182)
Marcus Raskin, piano
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