Les Flexibles

Pianist Rihards Plesanovs' debut album is an eclectic mix of works including those by Ligeti. Zemzaris, Say, Leimane, Vasks and Messiaen. None of us is a completely open book to the world, but Rihards Plesanovs is a particularly mysterious man. I have no idea whether he knows how, during conversations, his eyes tend to linger for a while on one or another of his interlocutors, and that this fixed, observant gaze like that of a forest bird makes one wonder what is really going on in the chambers of his mind. One could begin with a different introductory paragraph, but while the music chosen for this first solo album does not specifically provide answers, it does give a better sense of what lies at the core of this person known as Rihards Plesanovs, and albums like this are always a particular delight. Works by Ligeti and Messiaen serve as a nucleus for the album's content, with the other components derived from them. Orests Silabriedis