Liaisons: Re-imagining Sondheim from the Piano – Stephen Sondheim

Liaisons: Re-imagining Sondheim from the Piano Music by Stephen Sondheim, adaptations by Jon Batiste and Kevin Puts

SELECTIONS:

0:00 – The Gun Song/The Ballad of Booth (from Assassins) Jon Batiste/Sondheim 7:31 – Being Alive (from Company) Kevin Puts/Sondheim

Anthony de Mare, piano

MOSTLY MODERN FESTIVAL Skidmore College, Arthur Zankel Music Hall Saratoga Springs, New York (USA) 6/11/2022

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Anthony De Mare: Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim From The Piano
By JOHN KELMAN, Published: October 10, 2015

Anthony de Mare: Anthony de Mare: Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano

It looks, on paper, like a striking idea. Take a pianist (Anthony de Mare) who h
as been a virtuosic rising star in the classical and avant-garde arenas over the
past quarter century. Commission a set of 36 interpretations, for solo piano, o
f music by one of musical theatre’s preeminent composers, Stephen Sondheim. Choo
se participants ranging from 30 to 75 years of age, from seven countries, and wh
o collectively hold a total of 29 Pulitzer Prizes, Grammy, Tony, Academy and Emm
y Awards, representing the broadest possible musical spectrum to contribute an a
rrangement of a personal favorite Sondheim song—amongst them artists from the jazz
mainstream and its more modernistic cousin; contemporary post-minimalists; the
avant-garde; contemporary classical and musicals composers; singer/songwriters;
dance music DJs; and fellow piano virtuosos—all unified by their inimitably recogn
izable voices. Create a lavish three-CD box set that contains all 36 pieces (plu
s a closing interpretation by de Mare himself) and release it on ECM Records—the l
abel that has, more than most, defined itself by not just making the lines diffe
rentiating genre, culture, approach and any other differentiator you can think of fuzzy, but in many cases erasing them entirely.

Sometimes things that look that good on paper don’t actually work in reality. Bu
t Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano is not just a standout release
for the label, the pianist and all the artists commissioned to contribute arrang
ements—including Wynton Marsalis, Fred Hersch, The Bad Plus’ Ethan Iverson, Daniel
Bernard Roumain, Steve Reich, Annie Gosfield, Eric Rockwell, Jason Robert Brown
, Duncan Sheik, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Kenji Bunch, Mason Bates, Frederic Rzewski
, John Musto, David Shire and 21 more—it’s a recording that should turn out to be
another true landmark for a label that scoffs at anything that smacks of convent
ion and constantly encourages cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural, cross-stylisti
c excursions: another Officium; another Tabula Rasa; another Siwan; another Köln C
oncert.

De Mare may be new to fans of ECM’s more structurally focused New Series, on whi
ch Liaisons most appropriately resides; but since his debut with the Young Conce
rt Artists in 1986, the pianist has gone on to success after success, and collab
orations with the likes of New York’s Bang on a Can All Stars and a name very fa
miliar to label followers, composer/pianist/vocal experimenter Meredith Monk. Ta
ckling over three hours of music isn’t something that gets done in ECM’s typical
two-day record/one-day mix modus operandi; instead, Liaisons was recorded over
a period of four years, and produced by Judith Sherman, whose name will be famil
iar to fans of Kronos Quartet, Steve Reich, Nexus, Paul Hillier, Robin Holcomb,
John Adams, Bang on a Can and Philip Glass. Mastered by ECM’s Steve Lake and Chr
istoph Stickel, the album is being given the “major event”-like attention it des
erves, with the recording being performed in its entirety over three nights at t
hree different venues in New York between September and November, following a le
ngthy series of live performances that have taken place, over the past four year
s, at various venues across the United States and Canada.

If there’s a single word that defines Liaisons, it’s this: surprise. Given de Ma
re’s muscular virtuosity—balanced by an attention to dynamics that allows him to,
indeed, render 88 keys as an entire orchestra—it’s his ability to work with the 36
pieces where, as Sondheim describes it, “very few … are built like a song. Th
ey’re much more free-floating, there’s much more of a fantasia about them.”
High praise from a composer of musicals ranging from the light-hearted (1962’s A
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) to the absurd (1964’s Anyone Can
Whistle); the cynical (1970’s Company) to the historic (1976’s Pacific Overtures
); and the darkly thrilling (1979’s Sweeny Todd) to the imaginary biographical (
1984’s Sunday in the Park). Especially when these interpretations—as Sondheim also
asserts—are written “by composers, not arrangers, and they aren’t decorations of
the songs.”

Indeed, while a closer look will invariably reveal the heart of the song being a
rranged for de Mare, it’s not always an easy find. While American pianist and Pu
litzer Prize-winning composer William Bolcom’s brief look at the title tune from
Anyone Can Whistle (here called “A Little Night Fughata”) has, indeed, a contra
puntal foundation, the song’s core melody is clearly evident. Nico Mulhy’s “Colo
r and Light” manages to evoke the dichotomic nature of its subject, pointillist
painter Georges Seurat, and his work, as de Mare is compelled to find ways to ma
ke a piece filled with contrasting rhythms, jagged abstrusities and captivating
lyricism. Its occasional moments of defined pulse are a perfect setup for the tr
ack that follows, Steve Reich’s surprisingly faithful “Finishing the Hat—2 Pianos,
” which retains so much of the song’s heart while, at the same time, still sound
ing resolutely Reichian.

Which brings up another important aspect of Liaisons. With Manfred Eicher’s name
nowhere to be found in this recording’s notes, given the ECM label head’s usual
penchant for sequencing the material, the way the music unfolds across Liaisons
is as appropriately narrative as any other ECM recording, and one where each di
sc possesses its own arc while, at the same time, being part of the larger arc o
f the entire 37-song set. Still, absorbing nearly three-and- a-half hours of mus
ic in one sitting is no small challenge, so it’s a good thing that each disc wor
ks on its own, as if each were one act in a three-act play.

They may not be placed consecutively, but the seven pieces drawn from Sweeny Tod
d could just as easily have been; but separating them allows them to become part
of an entirely different whole. Kenji Bunch’s interpretation of “The Ballad of
Sweeny Todd” (“The Demon Barber”) not only possesses a relentless pulse that spe
aks to the thriller aspect of this play of death and debauchery in Victorian Lon
don; it also builds in dramatics, over the course of five minutes, to a climacti
c peak rarely matched elsewhere on Liaisons. That “The Worst [Empanadas] in Lond
on” comes after a curious breather in Ethan Iverson’s contrast-filled version of
“Send in the Clowns”—in equal turns Thelonious Monk-like blocky voicings and surp
risingly soft and gentle interludes—only serves to demonstrate that Liaisons is he
re to tell a tale all its own. Still, Venezuelan expat Ricardo Lorenz finds a wa
y to draw Sweeny Todd’s story back, with its rolling piano rhythm, positively pl
ayful approach and metric gradations that give the piece its own internal pulse,
even as de Mare is faced with the challenge of keeping up (which he does with a
plomb).

While Liaisons can be seen largely as a solo piano recital, neither de Mare nor
Sherman are averse to more modernistic devices, should the composers engaging wi
th Sondheim’s music demand them. It would have been impossible for de Mare to pe
rform Jason Robert Brown’s version of Sweeny Todd’s “Green Finch and Linnet Bird
” (“Birds of Victorian England”) on his own, predicated as it is on a series of
bird-like trills that the composer extends and expands upon far beyond the scope
of the original song; instead, composed for four pianos, three of them are prer
ecorded, with de Mare playing alongside them. Similarly, with Duncan Sheik’s ver
sion of “Johanna” (“Johanna in Space”), the singer/songwriter creates a celestia
l layer comprised of dozens of guitar improvisations fed through a tape echo, un
der which de Mare asserts the song’s more immediate melody.

It may come as no surprise that Wynton Marsalis’ look at “That Old Piano Roll” p
ays direct homage to Jelly Roll Morton’s ragtime swing, James P. Johnson’s strid
e playing—and, perhaps more curiously, later innovator Thelonious Monk, whose angu
lar approach provides more of the contrast that seems to be an undercurrent of t
he entire recording. Still, Marsalis’ references are not juxtaposed; instead, th
ey move forward in linear fashion, almost like a five-minute history lesson in p
re-1960s jazz. It will also be no shock that Fred Hersch’s unerringly beautiful
interpretation of Into the Woods’ lullaby, “No One is Alone,” is as fragile and
imbued with delicate risk as has been the pianist’s own life. Neither artist’s c
ontribution to Liaisons may be out of character; but both are just as captivatin
g as anything else in the set.

But while there are a few pieces that are unmistakable in the pen from which the
y have come—all, in some way, speaking to the very things that define each of the
36 commissioned composers’ careers—even within that veneer of familiarity comes a
degree of challenge and risk that lends Liaisons its unpredictability. Nor did t
he music necessarily come easily to all of the composers. Daniel Bernard Roumain
, whose own Etudes4violin&electronix (Thirsty Ear, 2007) was as auspicious a deb
ut as any that year, professes to have “struggled for several weeks to make ‘Ano
ther Hundred People’ [from 1970’s Company] work, and nothing worked. Finally aft
er a late-night conversation with Anthony [de Mare], he encouraged me to simply
‘duet’ with the music, and have a conversation with Mr. Sondheim’s score.” At ov
er seven minutes one of Liaisons’ longer tracks, it’s clear that sometimes the s
implest advice yields the best results, as Roumain expands upon Sondheim’s music
in ways that are, at times, easy to anticipate but at others, impossible to pre
dict; a particularly challenging piece to perform in its cross-rhythms and lefthand/
right-hand independence and inter-dependence, it’s also a climactic set-clo
ser for the second of Liaisons’ three discs.

There’s more—plenty more—to be found on Liaisons, but at a certain point it becomes
necessary to stop writing, to stop reading…and to start listening. There have
been other tributes to the music of Stephen Sondheim, but none with as simple ye
t adventurous a premise as Liaisons: Re- Imagining Sondheim from the Piano. Ther
e may be, barring the occasional use of overdubs, no more than a single piano to
evoke the poetry and the broad musicality that has defined Sondheim’s long care
er, but with 36 different composers to give 36 different slants on the music of
one of biggest stars of musical theatre for more than half a century, there is n
o other tribute that gets to the heart of the now mid- octogenarian’s music with
such accuracy—and, over the course of 205 minutes, with such precise pointillism.
Beyond the stellar compositional contributions and beyond de Mare’s similarly s
uperlative delivery, Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano is, quite si
mply, a recording of such resounding significance that it demands to be heard—and,
if there’s justice in the world, deserves to command the same kind of success a
s ECM game-changers like Paul Bley’s Open, to Love, Keith Jarrett’s Facing You a
nd Chick Corea’s Piano Improvisations, Vol. 1 & 2.

Anthony de Mare – Liaisons – Re-Imagining Sondheim From The Piano Label:
ECM Records – ECM 2470-72, ECM Records – 481 1780, ECM New Series – ECM New Series 2470-7

2, ECM New Series – 481 1780
Format: 3 × CD, Album
Country: Germany
Released: 02 Oct 2015
Genre: Classical
Style: Modern, Contemporary

Tracklist
1-1 A Little Night Fughetta
Arranged By, Composed By – William Bolcom
1:41
1-2 Color And Light
Arranged By, Composed By – Nico Muhly
5:36
1-3 Finishing The Hat – 2 Pianos
Arranged By, Composed By – Steve Reich
3:20
1-4 The Ladies Who Lunch
Arranged By, Composed By – David Rakowski
7:19
1-5 Perpetual Happiness
Arranged By, Composed By – Eve Beglarian
6:01
1-6 Birds Of Victorian England
Arranged By, Composed By – Jason Robert Brown
3:04
1-7 Johanna In Space
Arranged By, Composed By – Duncan Sheik
5:56
1-8 You Could Drive A Person Crazy
Arranged By, Composed By – Eric Rockwell
3:01
1-9 That Old Piano Roll
Arranged By, Composed By – Wynton Marsalis
4:38
1-10 Sorry / Grateful
Arranged By, Composed By – Derek Bermel
6:59
1-11 No One Is Alone
Arranged By, Composed By – Fred Hersch
4:03
1-12 A Bowler Hat
Arranged By, Composed By – Annie Gosfield
5:17
1-13 I’m Excited. No You’re Not.
Arranged By, Composed By – Jake Heggie
5:15
2-1 The Demon Barber
Arranged By, Composed By – Kenji Bunch
5:07
2-2 Send In The Clowns
Arranged By, Composed By – Ethan Iverson
5:49
2-3 The Worst [Empanadas] In London
Arranged By, Composed By – Ricardo Lorenz
4:53
2-4 I Think About You
Arranged By, Composed By – Paul Moravec
9:00
2-5 Very Put Together
Arranged By, Composed By – Mason Bates
3:08
2-6 I’m Still Here
Arranged By, Composed By – Frederic Rzewski
6:43
2-7 Love Is In The Air
Arranged By, Composed By – David Shire
4:05

2-8 Epiphany
Arranged By, Composed By – John Musto
5:05
2-9 Pretty Woman
Arranged By, Composed By – Mark-Anthony Turnage
3:44
2-10 Paraphrase (Someone In A Tree)
Arranged By, Composed By – Phil Kline
5:42
2-11 In And Out Of Love
Arranged By, Composed By – Bernadette Speach
5:59
2-12 Another Hundred People
Arranged By, Composed By – Daniel Bernard Roumain
7:17
3-1 Into The Woods
Arranged By, Composed By – Andy Akiho
8:57
3-2 Every Day A Little Death
Arranged By, Composed By – Ricky Ian Gordon
5:18
3-3 Merrily We Roll Along
Arranged By, Composed By – Nils Vigeland
5:39
3-4 Notes On ‘Beautiful’
Arranged By, Composed By – Rodney Sharman
5:27
3-5 Being Alive
Arranged By, Composed By – Gabriel Kahane
4:45
3-6 Not While I’m Around
Arranged By, Composed By – Thomas Newman
2:55
3-7 The Ballad Of Guiteau
Arranged By, Composed By – Jherek Bischoff
5:53

3-8 Now
Arranged By, Composed By – Mary Ellen Childs
3:22
3-9 A Child Of Children And Art
Arranged By, Composed By – Peter Golub
8:24
3-10 Going … Gone
Arranged By, Composed By – Tania León
7:35
3-11 Everybody’s Got The Right
Arranged By, Composed By – Michael Daugherty
4:36
3-12 Sunday In The Park – Passages (Encore)
Arranged By, Composed By – Anthony de Mare
5:20
Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – ECM Records GmbH
Copyright (c) – ECM Records GmbH
Made By – EDC, Germany
Recorded At – American Academy Of Arts And Letters
Recorded At – Greenfield Recital Hall, Manhattan School Of Music
Mastered At – MSM Studios

Credits
Composed By – Stephen Sondheim
Design – Bernd Kuchenbeiser
Engineer [Additional Engineer (Recording)], Edited By [Editing Assistant] – Jeanne
Velonis
Engineer [Backing Tracks Engineered By] – Kevin Boutote (tracks: 1-6)
Liner Notes [English] – Anthony de Mare, Mark Eden Horowitz, Stephen Sondheim
Mastered By [Mastering] – Christoph Stickel, Steve Lake (2)
Performer [Backing Track Provided By] – Duncan Sheik (tracks: 1-7)
Photography By [Liner Photo (p. 11)] – Jerry Jackson (3)
Photography By [Liner Photo (p. 8)] – Fred R. Conrad
Photography By [Liner Photos] – Paolo Soriani
Piano – Anthony de Mare
Producer [Producer For The Liaisons Project] – Rachel Colbert
Producer [Recording Producer], Engineer [Recording] – Judy Sherman*
Notes
Recorded 2010 – 2014 at the American Academy of Arts
and Letters, New York, and Greenfield Recital Hall,
Manhattan School of Music, New York.
Mastering at MSM Studios, München
An ECM Production
℗ © 2015 ECM Records GmbH