Alexei Lubimov (piano and prepared piano), Natalia\nPschenitschnikova (voice)

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A fresh approach to one of contemporary composition’s most\niconoclastic and inventive figures, ‘As It Is’ is issued to mark\nthe 100th anniversary of the birth of John Cage. Early Cage is the\nsubject here, strikingly original songs and piano pieces from the\n1930s and 1940s. Songs in which Cage set words by writers whose\nvision was as independent as his own – James Joyce, Gertrude Stein,\nand e e cummings. They are performed by the Russian pianist Alexei\nLubimov – who championed Cage’s work in Russia and later had a\nclose working relationship with him – and his compatriot, vocalist\nNatalia Pschenitschnikova.

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As Paul Griffiths writes, “The music exists in singing that has\na raw, living edge, and it exists in piano tone that can be utterly\nsimple and utterly remarkable. There is also a third presence, that\nof the producer, bringing forward the extraordinary resonances that\ncome from Lubimov’s piano, with preparation or without.” With\nManfred Eicher producing, the recording was made in December 2011\nin Zürich. Lubimov grasps both the playfulness of the music and its\nmessage of freedom.

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Lubimov previously included Cage’s In a Landscape on his 2002\ndebut recording for ECM New Series, Der Bote (461 8122), a disc of\npiano elegies. Among his other acclaimed recordings for the label\nare works by Scriabin, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Schnittke, Arvo\nPärt, and Valentin Silvestrov. Earlier this summer his double album\nof Debussy’s Preludes and other pieces (476 4735) attracted huge\npraise and was BBC Music Magazine’s ‘Recording of the Month’ in\nJuly. Natalia Pschenitschnikova has appeared on two previous ECM\ndiscs of Giya Kancheli as a flautist.

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