d_rradio & Lianne Hall: Making Spaces
Sentence Records

A Character of Quiet forms a continuum of sorts with Simone Dinnerstein's 2017 release Circles: both include works by Philip Glass, the former three etudes and the latter his Piano Concerto No.3, which he composed for the American pianist. Both releases also pair Glass with another composer, Bach in the case of Circles and on the new release Schubert, specifically his Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960. There is a critical difference between these Orange Mountain Music releases, however: whereas Circles features Dinnerstein performing with A Far Cry, the Boston-based string ensemble, A Character of Quiet presents the pianist alone, the intimacy of the project intensified by the circumstances of the recording process. Rather than record it in a studio or concert hall, she did so at her Brooklyn home over the course of two evenings in June 2020.

The choice wasn't for purely artistic reasons, of course. Like other artists, Dinnerstein's performance schedule was derailed by the pandemic and placed her at home with immediate family. Yet while many an artist has responded to the lockdown with a creative outpouring, the anxiety she experienced sapped her creative energy, so much so that she barely touched the piano for two months. For Dinnerstein, “Music did not seem like an adequate response to everything that was happening in the world.”

It was album producer Adam Abeshouse who persuaded her to resume playing by arguing that said respite might elicit a novel artistic response were she to do so. The decision made, the focus turned to repertoire, which proved a problem easily solved when the two composers in question immediately came to mind. Whatever their stylistic differences, Glass and Schubert make for a complementary pairing, especially when the pieces she selected are both reflective in nature. Their ascetic character “suited the moment,” in her words, but also arguing in favour of their coupling is a shared sensuality and the sense of solitude emerging from their eloquent phrasings. Elevating the recording are performances that show the pianist fully invested in the material.

A pensive tone is instantly established by Glass's sixteenth etude, which Dinnerstein executes with characteristic sensitivity to pacing, dynamics, tension, and phrasing. Such qualities resonate especially loudly when the composer reduces the piece to its essence and thereby allows its melodies to sing with the utmost clarity. Bringing contrast to the programme, the dramatic sixth is animated, its brooding themes delivered by Dinnerstein in rapid, rippling volleys. Completing the trio, Glass's second reinstates the ponderous character of the sixteenth, with this time a time-suspending quality conveyed by its slow, single-note arabesques.

As exquisite as the Glass renderings are, it's the Schubert sonata that is arguably the release's major selling-point. The “Molto moderato” exudes a gentle, lyrical quality that boosts its transporting effect. It ventures into other areas too, however, growing playful in animated passages before returning to those beguiling romantic episodes. Enhancing the impact of the performance is the fact that the listener is with Dinnerstein in real-time for almost twenty-three minutes on this wide-ranging exploration. The second “Andante sostenuto” movement is taken at an even slower tempo than its counterparts in the opener, which, coupled with its sombre tone, makes it as engrossing as the first. Like it, the second isn't singular in mood and style, venturing as it does during its middle section into sunnier climes. While the scherzo is the liveliest of the four movements, its frothy tone realized by Dinnerstein with all the breeziness one would expect, the concluding “Allegro, ma non troppo” is also energized, not to mention dramatic and, in its way, triumphant.

October 2020