24 Preludes for Piano Left Hand
By skillfully switching between the high and low registers of the piano and utilising full textures and bright or unexpected harmonies, Ryan creates the illusion of two hands playing. Coupled with Keith’s clean, lucid and sensitively articulated sound and the wonderfully echoey acoustic of Monkton Coombe School (where the album was recorded in May 2013), these preludes hark back to earlier antecedents by Debussy, Rachmaninov, Chopin and J S Bach in their variety and appeal, creating an album rich in contrasts. …
This interesting and appealing project is a celebration of left hand repertoire, a musical friendship, and the art of the Prelude and the miniature. Recommended.
Bravo to Kathleen Ryan and Keith Porter-Snell for creating a truly one-of-a-kind project!
[T]his really is programme music at its very best. The descriptive verbs are entirely apposite. Kathleen is such a tunesmith, which when allied to [Keith’s] playing, has produced a winning combination.