BRAD MEHLDAU (PIANO)

Works from his latest CD releases ‘Après Fauré’ and ‘After Bach II’
 

Après Fauré

To mark the 100th anniversary of Gabriel Fauré's death, Brad Mehldau dedicates an album to the French composer that is both a tribute and a personal confession. Fauré's finely nuanced ideal of sound had a lasting influence on Mehldau's playing and composition, and this work reflects the deep connection.

On ‘Après Fauré’, Fauré's elegant, dreamy nocturnes alternate with Mehldau's own compositions, which reflect Fauré's musical characteristics and emotional depth. The result is an intense, poetic dialogue that makes the influence of Fauré in Mehldau's music impressively audible.

After Bach II

In his second album dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach, Brad Mehldau once again embarks on a profound musical journey. ‘The more you try to engage with Bach, the more your own personality becomes visible, inevitably. You don't play Bach - Bach plays you, in the sense that he exposes you,’ writes Mehldau in his liner notes.

With this attitude, Mehldau creates a fascinating dialogue between his own Bach-inspired compositions and selected pieces from the ‘Well-Tempered Clavier’ and the partitas. The highlight is a bold new interpretation: in the second half of the album, Mehldau presents his variations on the Goldberg Variations, demonstrating a reverent and creative approach to one of the central works of music history.

Subject to change.