Pianist Orion Weiss releases his new album, Arc I: Granados, Janáček, Scriabin, on First Hand Records. Arc I is the inaugural album of a three-part series and features important works for solo piano from the years 1911-1913 - the precipice before World War I. The three musical stories on Arc I - Granados' 'Goyescas', Janáček's 'In the Mists', and Scriabin's 'Piano Sonata No. 9' ”Black Mass” – each struggle with the same impossible awareness of what was coming for the world, and in doing so, plunge further into modernity and despair...

Orion Weiss presents the first part of a series that delves into classical music and how it can be seen as an honest and raw reflection of the times in which it was composed.

Talking about this series of releases, Weiss says: "The arc of this recital trilogy is inverted, like a rainbow’s reflection in water. Arc I's first steps head downhill, beginning from hope and proceeding to despair. The bottom of the journey, Arc II, is Earth’s centre, grief, loss, the lowest we can reach. The return trip, Arc III, is one of excitement and renewal, filled with the joy of rebirth and anticipation of a better future."

Putting the release of Arc I into modern context, Weiss reflects: "The foreboding we experienced in 2020 was probably similar to what the composers featured on Arc I felt in the countdown to World War I: a silence before the storm, a chilling drop in pressure, and vast uncertainty. For us and for them, the future became like a patch of absolute black, totally unknowable and threatening. The pain of our subsequent descent has surely been both personal and global."

Historically and culturally this is an important album. Weiss's skills as a performer shine through as the music shifts and changes at an alarming speed. A rich and beautiful collection performed by a master of their craft. I'm very much looking forward to hearing Arc II and III.

10

Darren Rea