Various Composers - African Pianism (Rebeca Omordia)

Information

• Ayo Bankole - Egun Variations in G Major
• J.H. Kwabena Nketia - African Pianism (Excerpts)
• Christian Onyeji - Ufie
• Fred Onovwerosuoke - 5 Kaleidoscopes for Piano
• David Earl - Scenes from a South African Childhood: II. Princess Rainbow
• Nabil Benabdeljalil - Nocturnes Nos. 4-6 for Piano Solo
• Nabil Benabdeljalil - En attente du printemps
• Akin Euba - 3 Yoruba Songs Without Words

Rebeca Omordia, piano

Date: 2022

Label: SOMM

https://www.somm-recordings.com/recording/african-pianism/

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Review

For her fascinating new Somm release, ‘African Pianism’, Nigerian-Romanian pianist Rebecca Omordia has chosen music from three Nigerian composers, Ayo Bankole (1935 76), Akin Euba (1935-2020) and Christian Onyeji (b1967); two Ghanaians, Kwabena Nketia (1921-2019) and Fred Onovwerosuoke (b1960); a South African, David Earl (b1951); and a Moroccan, Nabil Benabdeljalil (b1972). The music of these seven composers is as wide-ranging as you might imagine, given their geographic and cultural diversity.

Nketia’s African Pianism was largely composed during the 1960s, around the time that the University of Ghana opened its School for Performing Arts, to enlarge the literature available to African piano students beyond the best Western teaching pieces. The challenges they pose are considerable, and Omordia’s performances are models of clarity and imaginative realisation. Onyeji sought to translate a number of Nigerian drumming techniques to the piano in his three-movement Ufie (Igbo Dance), its extraordinarily varied texutres and colours unfolding over the course of 14 minutes. Omordia commissioned the Five Kaleidoscopes from Onovwerosuoke, who grew up in Ghana, the child of Nigerian parents of the Igbo tribe, and is now a US citizen. Of all the works on the album, the Kaleidoscopes have the greatest affective range, which Omordia traverses with probative grace. Robert Matthew-Walker’s informative booklet notes describe Benabdeljalil as the most significant composer of concert music Morocco has produced. He is also the youngest composer represented here. His early En attente du printemps was composed in Kyiv, and it is difficult not to detect a slightly Scriabinesque flavour in the series of Nocturnes he began in 1992.

Finally, one cannot escape a sense of gratitude to Omordia, whose musical curiosity and imagination, bolstered by an admirably versatile technique, bring us a bounty of largely unfamiliar yet richly rewarding music.

-- Patrick Rucker, Gramophone

More reviews:
https://www.classical-music.com/reviews/instrumental/african-pianism-rebeca-omordia/

https://theclassicreview.com/album-reviews/review-african-pianism-rebeca-omordia-piano/

https://www.allmusic.com/album/african-pianism-mw0003648256

https://www.amazon.com/African-Pianism-Various-Artists/dp/B09NGYC9XL

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Rebeca Omordia is a Nigerian-Romanian pianist who based in London. She studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Trinity College of Music in London with Mikhail Kazakevich. An "African classical music pioneer", in 2018 she released her CD "EKELE: Piano Music by African Composers" on Heritage Records, the first CD of its kind ever released in the UK. In 2019 she launched the world's first ever African Concert Series, London, a series of monthly concerts featuring music by African classical composers. In recent seasons Omordia has toured Nigeria as a recitalist and soloist. She is also a talented arranger.

https://www.rebecaomordia.com/

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