Edino Krieger was born in Brazil in 1928. The only thing by him I've seen on record until now is his 1957 Piano Sonatina; it appears on at least one LP, as well as on a CD of piano music (Lorelt 115) that includes music by several other worthy Brazilians (Mignone, Miranda, Nobre). It's a wonderful piece, one of those melodically-inspired gems that once heard, you never forget. So I was eager to listen to this new Blue Griffin release devoted to Krieger's piano compositions. All of them except for a short waltz and a three-movement set of Interval Studies were written about the same time as the sonatina. I wasn't disappointed. The two goodlysized sonatas (19 and 16 minutes long), like the sonatina, are sheer delight: beautifully crafted, shapely, fluent, sonorous, overflowing with warmth and joy. Their romantic-but-modern language and rewarding, idiomatic pianism recall such North Americans as Barber, Dello Joio, and Hoiby. The sonatas don't for the most part sound particularly Brazilian. I'd describe them as pan-American; they have an indefinable youthful freshness and rhythmic vivacity that is somehow of the New World. The shorter pieces on the program are more openly indebted to local indigenous sources. Interval Studies, from 2000, is rather dissonant and violent, with episodes of jagged Bartokian leanness. This isn't as appealing as the earlier music, though not really difficult, and at least it's short. If you like the piano as a vehicle for melodious modern romanticism you should hear
Krieger's beautiful sonatas and his captivating sonatina, especially in the first-class presentation they are accorded here. Alexandre Dossin plays with an astute balance of excitement, technical finesse, and fluid expressivity; The recording is close to ideal rich but clear, truthful, and immediate. Blue Griffin, 1120 Keystone Avenue, Lansing, MI 48911 or www.bluegriffin.com    LEHMAN

A Touch of Brazil. Piano Music of Edino Krieger

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