Vicky Chow - A O R T A

Pitchfork 73

Pianist Vicky Chow has been building a discography focused on modern classical sounds ever since completing her studies at Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music. She appeared on a release from John Zorn’s Tzadik imprint, and interpreted the music of John Cage. More recently, she made a star turn on a Steve Reich album. Though Chow is obviously a virtuoso when it comes to acoustic work, she has also shown an interest in pieces that employ electronics. Her premiere of Reich’s “Piano Counterpoint” required her to play against pre-recorded parts; Chow’s recording of composer Tristan Perich’s Surface Image found the pianist threading notes in between 40 channels of chirping, 1-bit sound.

Due to that resume, it’s hardly a shock to discover that Chow’s first solo album for the New Amsterdam label involves electro-acoustic setups. A O R T A features pieces from six up-and-coming composers, each of whom pushes the limits of the instrument in some way. Christopher Cerrone’s “Hoyt-Schermerhorn” has an icy profile, at first, as softly played progressions creep slowly into the piano’s highest reaches. But when a rising figure in a low octave is introduced, Chow’s playing communicates the effusive release embedded in those notes (even as the overall harmony remains melancholic). Increasingly dense layers of sound then clue a listener in to the fact that some of this playing is not being done live. But even when Cerrone’s digital design asserts itself more clearly—via glitchy, refracted notes—the center of the piece holds.

Another winner is Molly Joyce’s “Rave.” The work starts out sounding anything but exultant, sporting motifs that seem emotionally mismatched. (In the score, Joyce’s description of a tempo as “controlled but on the edge” seems appropriate.) As the composition develops, Joyce’s lines achieve an odd syncopation, and ultimately a sense of balance strong enough to suggest a club-influenced feel.

There is a potent sense of physicality in Chow’s performance of that piece—one which also carries over to Andy Akiho’s “Vick(i/y).” Written for Chow and fellow pianist Vicki Ray, Akiho’s prepared-piano opus stretches the range of the instrument by calling for the direct strumming of strings inside the piano’s body. That technique isn’t a new one. But Akiho’s use of it here serves percussive and melodic ends that prove structurally satisfying, when traditional-sounding lines sprout and shoot away from the modernist opening material.

The rest of the hour-long program isn’t quite on the same level as those compositions, though the pieces are all worth hearing. Jacob Cooper’s “Clifton Gates” is a clever homage to John Adams’s famous minimalist composition “Phrygian Gates.” Jakub Ciupinksi’s four-movement “Morning Tale” has moments of dramatic propulsion. Two movements from Daniel Wohl’s “Aorta” contain the composer’s typical blend of jabbing aggression and dreamy fluidity. Though without a full performance of the work, its impression is necessarily muted. Chow handles these composers’ various electronic setups with grace, never letting the tech overwhelm the particular aesthetic. Arrangement eccentricities aside, the most notable quality of A O R T A is the pianist’s deep, evident investment in these consistently rewarding pieces.