Beata Moon's first recording for Naxos presents a handful of premieres, though roughly half of this disc features fresh performances of pieces that appeared on two previous albums. The Piano Sonata and Inter-Mez-Zo, both composed in 2006, are important additions to
Moon's growing list of piano works, several of which appeared in 2000 on her debut on Albany, Perigee and Apogee, and in 2004 on her CD for BiBimBop, Earthshine. This is, however, her first all-piano collection, which she recorded February 16-17, 2007, and her performances are consistent in energy and color, even though the music goes through many changes of character. Whether it's the weighty pronouncements of the Sonata, the veiled mystery of Submerged, the perkiness of In Transit, or the virtuosic runs of the Toccata,
Moon's writing and playing reveal both playfulness and an acute awareness of what works; she slips easily between styles without being obviously eclectic, and her music holds together through sureness of technique. Her language is primarily tonal, blended with impressionistic harmonies and occasionally spiced with sharper dissonances;
Moon's forms are usually short, poetic vignettes where ideas are freely associated, rather than rigorously developed along theoretical lines. To this extent,
Moon is at her best in miniatures, and her music seems ideally suited to expressing images and moods instead of abstractions. Naxos' reproduction is clean and crisp, and the fairly close microphone placement gives
Moon a credible presence.