KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI: "Labyrinth"

Original released on CD Sony Classical 19439795772

(EU 2020, October 9)

Pianist Khatia Buniatishvili specialized mostly in virtuoso repertory in the early years of her tenure with the Sony Classical label, but she goes in a different direction with "Labyrinth", a collection of mostly slow, reflective pieces from various periods and in various styles. The labyrinth involved might be a winding path through musical styles or through an individual soul. The program is of the sort that one shouldn't try to hard to pin down; Buniatishvili posted on social media (October 9, 2020) that "the voice you hear is the voice of a human being - my voice, your voice," but it's quite evocative. Buniatishvili makes turns through Bach, jazz, Romantic music, contemporary pieces, including a large Philip Glass excerpt, and more. Yet for the most part, she maintains the sense of a thread connecting the pieces, although some may feel that the four-hands arrangement of the "Badinerie from the Bach Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor", where she teams with her sister, Gvantsa Buniatishvili, adds material that breaks the mood. The meditative quality reaches its peak, in a sense, with the inclusion of John Cage's "4'33"" - four minutes and 33 seconds of silence, wherein listeners are invited to contemplate their sonic environments as the time elapses. It's an unorthodox choice, especially on recordings, but its placement here is apt. Did she sit at the keyboard for the requisite time? Who can know? Sony's sound, from the Pierre Boulez Room in the Paris Philharmonie, is ideal. Fans of the fiery Buniatishvili will be intrigued by this new path from the pianist. (James Manheim in AllMusic)