Reimagine: Beethoven & Ravel — 9 World Premieres finds Inna braking new ground, paying a respectful homage to source material by Beethoven and Ravel. The album was released on June 11th by Navona Records! Purchase links here.
Featuring nine contemporary composers, including Richard Danielpour, Paola Prestini, Billy Childs, and Timo Andres, were commissioned to craft responses to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Bagatelles, op. 126 (incidentally, the master’s favorite) as well as Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit. The results are exhilarating, not least owing to Faliks’ stunningly precise and sensitive pianistic interpretation: the Ukrainian-born American pianist ties together Classical, Romantic and modern pieces with disarming nonchalance and rock-solid technical skill.
Defying the challenge of uniting three centuries of musical styles and social commentary, as well as producing an album during a global pandemic with the help of Yamaha’s Disklavier technology, Reimagine proudly raises a monument not only to the genius of Beethoven and Ravel, but also to the perseverance and verve of some of today’s most exciting and important composers.
(Billy Childs’ track, “Pursuit”, was released in May 2021 as the album’s single.)
Listen/purchase here:
Press
Pianomania review
by Chang Tou Liang Reimagine: Beethoven & Ravel “Inna Faliks is a brilliant pianist whose instinctual approach to music, makes these new works relevant, and just as importantly, come to live.”
Ihr Opernratgeber review
by Sven Godenrath Reimagine: Beethoven & Ravel The Bagatelle by Peter Golub, played by Inna Faliks, impresses with its sparkling elegance and the subtle sparkling piano. The same applies to Bagatelle No. 1, no. 3 , no. 5 and no. 6 by Ludwig van Beethoven, the Bagatelle by Richard Danielpour, Sweet Nothings by Mark Carlsons… […]
‘Reimagine’ featured on two Best of 2021 lists
My album Reimagine: Beethoven & Ravel has been chosen for two ‘Best of 2021’ lists! This includes San Francisco Classical Voice (courtesy of Peter Feher), and American Record Guide (thanks to James Harrington).
Pizzicato review
by Remy Franck Reimagine: Beethoven & Ravel Ukrainian-born American pianist Inna Faliks has asked nine contemporary composers, including Richard Danielpour, Paola Prestini, Billy Childs, and Timo Andres, to write a short piece of music on each of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Bagatelles, Op. 126, and Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit. The results, as might be […]
American Record Guide review
by James Harrington Reimagine: Beethoven & Ravel The title may be “Reimagine” but the concept is yet another amazing product of Inna Faliks‘s extraordinary imagination. Besides the quality of the music and her exceptional pianism, we have to consider other great aspects of this recording. The program alternates a newly composed Bagatelle response with each […]
Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review
by Grego Applegate Edwards Reimagine: Beethoven & Ravel The world of music has many facets of course and if you are like me the whole everloving Pop scene seems ever more vast and mysterious. I’ve pretty much given up on trying to assimilate the new flavors of the month there. I no longer feel compelled […]
Textura Review
by Ron Schepper Reimagine: Beethoven & Ravel With [this solo piano release], Inna Faliks shows herself to be both extraordinary musician and inspired conceptualist. Enhancing the impact of the recording, the six bagatelles appear alongside the compositions they inspired. Collectively, the results are stunning, for both Faliks’ impeccable execution of the material and the sensitivity […]
Take Effect Review
by Tom Haugen Reimagine: Beethoven & Ravel The piano genius Inna Faliks turns in an incredible interpretation of Beethoven and Ravel with Reimagine, where she brings ingenuity to classic compositions while still keeping the integrity of the originals intact. […] Faliks displays incredible flexibility. “Variations On A Spell”[…] twinkles with a meticulous manipulation of keys as Faliks offers […]
Gramophone Review
by Guy Rickards Reimagine: Beethoven & Ravel This album is, quite simply put, a real surprise. Not just for the fine playing of Inna Faliks or her imaginative programming, but for the quality of the nine new works that reimagine collectively the two pianistic classics at the heart of the programme. Each [of the responses […]
Lucid Culture Review: “A Fascinating Collection of New Piano Music and the Beethoven and Ravel That Inspired It”
From Lucid Culture, June 12, 2021 also in New York Music Daily Pianist Inna Faliks excels particularly at innovative and interesting programming, whether live or on album. On her latest release, Reimagine – streaming at youtube – she’s commissioned a fascinating mix of contemporary composers to write their own relatively short pieces inspired by, and […]