Sondheim
New Music
“Liaisons” is the wonderfully apt title given by pianist Anthony de Mare to his commissioning project, which brings together three dozen composers — a starry who’s who of the contemporary music world — and the glittering, refined music-theater scores of Stephen Sondheim. Each composer was asked to do a free treatment of a Sondheim song, and the results — which de Mare has been rotating through recital programs for several years and has now recorded on this irresistible new CD set — are little short of breathtaking. There is, first of all, the range of approaches, from relatively faithful (Steve Reich on “Finishing the Hat,” Fred Hersch on “No One Is Alone”) to refractory (David Rakowski’s “The Ladies Who Lunch,” Frederic Rzewski’s “I’m Still Here”). It’s thrilling to hear just how much material there is in a Sondheim creation for another composer to seize on, whether a single melodic detail or a full-size harmonic conception, and to witness the directions those ideas can be taken (I’m especially struck by Andy Akiho’s prepared-piano version of “Into the Woods”). And like a 21st century version of a Lisztian paraphrase, many of the composers give de Mare plenty of opportunities for virtuoso showing off — which he grabs with gusto. The whole undertaking is a triumph. — Joshua Kosman