The Anthony de Mare Liaisons Sondheim project concert was truly enjoyable. It was held in a converted warehouse with exposed brick and stone and dramatic lighting, with cabaret-style seating and an open bar and popcorn on the tables.
They commissioned 32 contemporary composers to select a Sondheim song and write a short piano piece (most were between 3 and 5 minutes) with the song as their inspiration. Some stayed fairly close to the source; others went quite far afield. But if you know the source material, it was endlessly fascinating. One piece, by Steve Reich, is written for 2 pianos, so Anthony had pre-recorded one of the parts and then played along with himself. The piece by Duncan Sheik featured a pre-recorded guitar loop along with the piano part.
The encore was a setting of Not While I'm Around by film composer Thomas Newman.
Also interspersed throughout the evening were frequently hilarious audio excerpts of interviews with Sondheim and the commissioned composers, which is all part of the project.
DR elmore3003, isn't Judith Sherman your producer on the Herbert recordings? She is producing the Liaisons recording of all the pieces, which will be released in 2015.
