ELLIOTT CARTER (b.1908): 90+, Retrouvailles, Night Fantasies, 2 Diversions, Matribute, Sonata, 2 Thoughts About the Piano.

Description: This is an essential collection, from one of the composer's most constant champions. Never a prolific piano composer, Carter's output for the instrument nevertheless contains two pivotal works in the evolution of his compositional voice - the splendidly bold, largely tonal Sonata, and the volatile and complex Night Fantasies. Two works from the last couple of years receive their première recordings here; like many of Carter's recent pieces they are brief and explicitly celebrate a primary consideration of his mature style, parallel streams of material progressing independently in contrasting meter, with a gleefully playful toccata-like lightness of touch. The youthful exuberance of Caténaires would be remarkable in a composer of any age, let alone 98 . . . Ursula Oppens (piano).