McDonas, Thollem / Stefano Scodanibbio

Debussy's Piano

Label: Die Schachtel Country: Italy

"Anyone who has heard Thollem or Scodanibbio as a soloist might well imagine what a combination of their unique genius could produce. Now you can hear it for real on Debussy's Piano...yes...the same piano the magical, marvelous and world-changing Claude Debussy once owned and played himself. And Debussy's spirit certainly hovers here in the auras of ferocious demoniacal energies and delicate impressionistic shades of vibration emanating from these mesmerizing, polished structures.

Stefano Scodanibbio, for many years now, has redefined and expanded greatly the techniques of playing the double bass. He has made this instrument speak in ways never before experienced and has unleashed a sonic arsenal for this instrument that has inspired composers like Cage, Berio and Stockhausen to heap praise on this wonderful 21st c. Paganini. On this recording he burns through Thollem's structures with fire and elegance.

Thollem's keyboard flights unleash cascades of notes of seemingly impossible velocity and no matter where he goes tonally, it always seems right, fresh and satisfying. He should be on everyone's listening list who appreciates great piano music. As an improviser, he inhabits a world uniquely his own, rhythmically, harmonically and formally. A true original.

Debussy's Piano, Thollem and Scodanibbio. An imaginative idea, wonderfully realized with virtuosity, improvisational mastery and intuitive communication of deep sensibility all residing here in the magical marriage of their artistry."-Terry Riley

Stefano Scodanibbio, contra bassist and composer, was born June 18th, 1956 in Macerata, Italy. In the 1980s and 1990s his name became prominently linked to the renaissance of the double bass, playing in the major festivals throughout the world dozens of works written especially for him by composers such as Fred Frith, and Iannis Xenakis among many others. He collaborated for a long time with Luigi Nono. He has created new techniques extending the colours and range of the double bass heretofore thought impossible on this instrument. In 1987, in Rome, he performed a four hour non-stop marathon playing 28 pieces by 25 composers. Since the 1990's, Stefano Scodanibbio has taught Master Classes and Seminars at the University of California Berkeley and Stanford University as well as many others around the world. Active as a composer, his catalogue consists of more than 50 works principally written for strings. He was chosen four times for the International Society of Contemporary Music (Oslo 1990, Mexico City 1993, Hong Kong 2002, Stuttgart 2006). He has recorded for Montaigne Auvidis, Col Legno, Mode, New Albion, Dischi di Angelica, Ricordi, Stradivarius, Wergo."-from the liner notes by Terry Riley

A brief explanation of titles:

"My mother was very ill when I recorded this music, and it was profoundly sad for me that she was unable to make the trip to France for the concert. She was a pianist and a great teacher, and Debussy was her favorite composer as a small child and throughout her life. She died 3 months after these recordings were made and so I was fortunate to be able to share them with her. When Stefano and I recorded the structured improvisations of mine there were no titles set, as I didn't want titles to influence our music. So, I set the titles afterwards and during my mothers last days. These titles are a poem interweaving the lives of my mother and Debussy. On my mother's deathbed I looped the recordings of myself playing Debussy's music. The evening my mother died Jupiter, Mercury, Venus and the Moon made a perfect diagonal to the sunset from the perspective out the window of her hospital room."-Thollem McDonas