Now in his early fifties, Thanos Mikroutsikos is evidently at the forefront of contemporary music in Greece. Previous EMI releases have covered operatic and orchestral work. The present disc provides an overview of his piano music, a medium only recently explored.
Good Day, Mr Hadjidakis pays tribute to one of the motivating forces in post-war Greek music. ‘The Gentleman with the Smile’ opens in Fur Elise-like pathos, this variation on a Hajidakis melody developing momentum through some attractively unassuming pianism. ‘In Motion’ is a brief, incisive invention, while ‘Simple Melody’ elaborates its poignant theme under flowing triplet figuration. After the plaintive asperity of ‘Calmness’, the linear counterpoint of ‘Dance and Memories’ concludes the suite in pointed open-endedness.
Doodle is a deceptively titled, and literally transcribed, 13-minute improvisation, its loose-limbed form rising gradually if somewhat uncertainly in rhythmic intensity: a mono- logue which, in the composer’s words, ‘enhanc(es) my obsessions without anything having been planned’. The balletic evocations of Mikroutsikos’s three daughters make for a well-complemented triptych; the first two are chaste, bittersweet miniatures, followed by a more robust study. The Lacrimas pieces form a thoughtful duality; an ‘old style’ evocation of time and place followed by a quizzical ‘new style’ gaze towards the unknown.
Not a disc to set the pulse racing but, heard individually, these four works, capably executed by Danae Kara, make diverting listening as they skilfully navigate the dividing line between anodyne and ingratiating