The Luth�al piano is a rare instrument with a slight repertoire. It was invented (according to uncredited notes "found on the internet" accompanying this release) in 1918 in Belgium. Maurice Ravel composed for the modified instrument, but when one was destroyed in a fire, it was believed to be extinct. In 1980, however, another instrument was discovered, now believed to be the only one in existence.

The Luth�al is a sort of early prepared piano, which uses stops (as on an organ) to manipulate mechanisms over the strings, and British pianist Veryan Weston plays it well. Weston was invited to come to the Museum of Musical Instruments in Brussels and perform on the Luth�al, and his choice of material was wise. Tessellations is a series of 52 themes he composed as basis for improvisation. It was a smart move; writing a new work for the Luth�al, or approaching it as purely an opportunity to play without score or structure would have meant running the risk of mere novelty. Improvising on themes he had already internalzed allowed him to use the mechanism as just another tool.

The pieces fly by at near Nancarrow speed and the shifts in sound are sometimes subtle, sometimes surprising. Weston used the different voices at some points to create fore and background, at others to create tidal shifts in the middle of a piece. His playing is exciting and immensely enjoyable.

By the last dozen tesselations, his use of the dampers gets distractingly overt, but you can't blame a pianist for wanting to open that hog and see how fast it can move. It's a worthy recital, something that deserves a place alongside Cage and Nancarrow in the world of pianistic linguistics.

The disc includes a sloppily assembled "enhanced" section of scores and notes, which, like the "found on the internet" notes, gives the disc an unfortunate, haphazard feel. The playing within is unusual enough, and beautiful enough, that its package ought treat it as more of an event.