Khatia Buniatshvili, the revered classical pianist who has collaborated with superstars like Coldplay in the past, has just released her latest album. Entitled Kaleidoscope, the LP comes via Sony Music Masterwork's classical imprint.
Having dropped today, March 18, the new album from the Georgian piano player is coincidentally named after the song that Coldplay had invited Ms. Buniatshvili to record on. That song, "Kaleidoscope" came well received by critics who listened to the track when it leaked on the internet prior to the album dropping.
Also, the new recording includes Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Ravel's La Valse, plus three movements from Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka.
According to a press release:
"The consciously ambiguous title of the album comes from Khatia's idea that 'the richness of color in this music reminds me of a kaleidoscope. It is one person's gaze at excerpts from reality at a very specific moment.' With these words, she is hinting that a work like Pictures at an Exhibition is not mere material for virtuosity, but rather a 'highly personal work.' Mussorgsky's Pictures includes many dark moments - suffering, slavery, skepticism. Ravel's La Valse was originally planned as 'homage to Johann Strauss' in 1906, but after the First World War struck Europe, the serenity of three-four time turned into a reeling whirl, a kind of dance of death. In Petrushka, the story also ends in tragedy with the death of the hero"
Ms. Buniatsvhili is a deft performer and phenomenal arranger, so her latest release should please her fanbase and extend outward to adopt new listeners, especially since her Coldplay debut, which critics have deemed the jewel of the album.
Nonetheless, pick up her album on iTunes now and keep yourself familiar with an earlier performance by Khatia below.
