Much like Classicalite fave Conrad Tao, 27-year-old pianist/composer Timo Andres is surely on the fast track to success.
As one may expect for a talent not yet 30, the question of influence--in that strain duly noted by Mr. Harold Bloom--looms o'er.
The anxiety of said influence was exactly what brought Andres, Peter Mendelsund and Leo Carey to Housing Works Books on July 30--the very day that Andres' new Nonesuch record, Home Stretch, dropped.
Waxing on affect, ontology and how Mozart might sound today, the best, most cogent argument came from Mr. Andres...when he came down from the philosophers' box and seated himself behind at the bench.
You see, there remains an anxious vibe to Mozart's "Coronation" concerto. With no tempi indications for two of its movements, Mozart also forgot to write any notes for the piano's left hand in a great many measures throughout the work.
As found in even urtext facsimiles, large swaths of the solo part simply have nothing composed for the performer's left hand; there is no other Mozart piano concerto wherein so much was left unfinished.
Leo Carey is a senior editor at The New Yorker, where he has worked for 15 years. He was born in Oxford, England and studied English literature at Oxford. As an editor at The New Yorker, he has worked on a wide range of non-fiction. His own writings have appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Times Literary Supplement. In his spare time he plays the piano and cello.
Peter Mendelsund is the associate art director of Alfred A. Knopf Books, the art director of Pantheon Books, art director of Vertical Press (and a recovering classical pianist). His designs have been described by the Wall Street Journal as being “the most instantly recognizable and iconic book covers in contemporary fiction.” His writing on literature, design and other matters can be found on his blog: jacketmechanical.blogspot.com. A book of his design work and writing, Cover, comes out Spring 2014.
