Review Roundup: Pianist Conrad Tao, 'Crypt Sessions' in the Church of the Intercession

Pianist Conrad Tao performed in the basement crypt of Church of the Intercession in Harlem on Wednesday night for an audience of 50 people, the maximum the room can accommodate, part of the Crypt Sessions.

Let's see what the critics had to say:

ANTHONY TOMMASINI, NY Times: Mr. Tao began by playing a recording of the Kentucky coal miners' song "Which Side Are You On?" sung in a crackly old voice by Florence Patton Reece, who wrote it during a bitter strike in 1931 (and reprised it decades later in the documentary "Harlan County, U.S.A."). There are passages in Rzewski's long piano piece, based on the song, where the plaintive melody is enshrouded in clusters evocative of Ives, or in dreamy jazzy harmonies. Mostly, though, Mr. Rzewski puts the theme through episodes of sinewy agitation and pounding chords. In the crypt, the sheer volume of Mr. Tao's

NYC Aesthetic: Aaron Copland's Piano Sonata, a rarely played anomaly from his "vernacular period," was beautifully resurrected by Tao. The artist explains in his engaging Pieces of Me video series, that he found the score buried in the archives of the Aspen Music Library. He describes the work as "intensely beautiful" adding, "it felt like opening up a portal to another world." Tao finds resolve in the poignancy of the opening statement to the more edgier realms of foreboding angst, bravely handling the juxtapositions of utopian hope and despair. The interchange of dissonance and consonance creates a very modern moodiness. The final Adante sostenuto has been described by Uncle Dave Lewis as "giving the impression of immobility, like a clock winding down." This idea dramatically fits our present political predicament as we bear witness to the sad slow-motion meltdown of government, our liberties vanquishing.

Photo Credit: Andrew Ousley