Michael Hersch’s new DVD/CD – “The Sudden Pianist” – due for release May 28

May 28 sees the release of The Sudden Pianist, a special DVD/CD set from Michael Hersch that celebrates his twin achievements as a composer for piano and as the foremost exponent of his own piano works. The DVD will pair The Sudden Pianist – a new documentary about him by filmmaker Richard Anderson – with Michael Hersch: Live at Merkin Hall, the composer/pianist’s live concert rendition of his own Suite from the Vanishing Pavilions. This same live performance may also be heard on the accompanying audio CD, which, like the DVD, will be issued by Innova Recordings.
 
An official selection of the 2013 American Documentary Film Festival, Anderson’s film The Sudden Pianist offers an intimate portrait, enriched by previously unseen and unheard footage of Hersch in performances of his own piano music that date from his 1999 Carnegie Hall recital debut to the present day. Punctuated with rare and revealing interviews, Anderson’s film presents a moving journey into the mind of one of America’s most remarkable artists.
 
While long established as one of the leading composers of his generation, as a pianist Hersch makes only rare public appearances. The concert film Michael Hersch: Live at Merkin Hall captures his performance in October 2011, when the Transit Circle concert series launched the season with a full evening devoted to Hersch’s music at Manhattan’s Merkin Hall. Marking his first public performance in New York for more than a decade, Hersch gave the world premiere of his solo piano piece Suite from the Vanishing Pavilions drawn from his celebrated 150-minute work, The Vanishing Pavilions. It was when he first premiered the latter that his performance “signified Hersch’s emergence as a pianist,” as the Philadelphia Inquirer reported: “He conjured volcanic gestures from the piano with astonishing virtuosity. The evening felt downright historic.”
 
Details of The Sudden Pianist are provided below, and a trailer is available at thesuddenpianist.com.
 
 
Michael Hersch: The Sudden Pianist
Label: Innova Recordings
Release date: May 28, 2013
 
Audio CD
• Michael Hersch: Live at Merkin Hall (59:05)
 
DVD
• The Sudden Pianist: a film by Richard Anderson (29:11)
• Michael Hersch: Live at Merkin Hall (61:03)
 
 
thesuddenpianist.com
 
www.michaelhersch.com
 
www.facebook.com/MichaelHerschMusic
 
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© 21C Media Group, May 2013