Tania León: Teclas de mi piano

The Pulitzer Prize winner Tania León enlists the pianist Adam Kent for these 11 pieces that were composed across 50 years from student works and showcase Kent’s inimitable skills with the keys. “Homenatge” opens the listen with the dizzying keys emitting much skill and warmth as they advance in very fascinating ways, and “Tumbao” follows with an acutely striking melody that unfolds with incredible finger acrobatics. Halfway through, “Rituál” rumbles with a bit of cautiousness, where the lower register is quite absorbing as the setting builds into a swift, dense execution, while “Mística” flows with an unpredictable, cinematic quality that’s firm and adventurous. Close to the end, “going…gone”, the best track, radiates energetic, meticulous bouts amid calmer ebbs, and “Variación” exits with harmonic gestures that are full of breezy beauty. A native to Cuba, León came to the U.S. in 1967, and ended up being a founding member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. There’s been many awards and accolades along the way, and here Kent illuminates her eclectic vision with a flawless delivery.

Tania León’s “Stride” won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for music. While we wait for an official recording of that, we have this survey of her piano catalog. The pianist Adam Kent has the measure of León’s sound throughout, whether he’s dealing with student pieces written in the 1960s or more recent items like “Homenatge,” from 2011. In the latter, he brings a virtuoso’s zest to the dance rhythms and bluesy clusters that cavort in the composition’s opening minutes. But he also offers a patient, less showy sensibility during the ruminative airs of the final minutes. In liner notes, León cites the son clave rhythm of a song from her native Cuba as informing one piece; other items on the album elaborate on choice examples from Bach (“Variación”) and Sondheim (“Going… Gone”). Throughout, Kent pays as much attention to León’s formal invention as to the way she reworks her diverse inspirations. The album’s sequencing keeps you on your toes. Poised miniatures from the composer’s apprentice years (including “Rondó a la Criolla” and “Homenaje a Prokofiew”) directly precede denser, more mature standouts like “Rituál” and “Mística.” Although León’s language is different from decade to decade, her ear for slightly bent phrases in the early works can help prepare a listener for the way she later learned to make starker dissonances dance.