Igor Levit is a serious musician. That term generally suggests a repertoire devoid of light-hearted lollipops (true), exclusively devoted to a limited range of serious mainstream masterpieces. As to the latter, it is not quite the case. From the start Levit has kept a few surprises up his sleeve. His first notable recording of Bach’s Goldberg and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations was coupled with Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated.

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In this new release entitled Encounter, Levit follows Bach, Brahms and Reger with the final piano work by the American Morton Feldman (1926-1987): the 29-minute long Palais de...