Benyamin Nuss has since an early age amazed and left a worldwide audience in awe with his masterful piano performances. Nuss is not only a virtuoso of precision, but one of the most melodically honest performers in classical music, his music is heartfelt, gripping and daring, allowing listeners of any age to truly feel the music due to his incredible powerful and passionate renditions of both classic and contemporary scores. In 2010, Nuss released his debut album Benyamin Nuss Plays Uematsu on the prestigious label Deutsche Grammophon under the auspices of Universal Music, breaking new grounds and making history with his incredible tribute to the most famous video game composer of all time. Now the young man from Germany is ready to go even more exotic for his next album.
Exotica is a collection of inspired works blended together to create a journey unlike any other, a theme of classical music merged and molded to feel new, exciting and exotic as only Benyamin Nuss can provide. On this journey we meet Claude Debussy, as his “Estampes” served as a great influence on the album, along with Darius Milhaud, Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Alan Hovhaness, Martin Torp and even Masashi Hamauzu. Nuss also features his very own Elegy for Fukushima, making this not only an experiment of exoticism, but also a gift with a heart, and with a soul Jonne Valtonen also contributed to Exotica with his “Fantasy” for the Fukushima elegy. Benyamin Nuss proves with this album that he is a unique world class talent, and one with a true passion that is easily heard, and felt within your very own mind and body.
Available at: Amazon DE, Itunes and JPC
Tags: Album, Benyamin Nuss, Classical, Masashi Hamauzu, Piano
I’m really excited by this release. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to purchase the album, simply because I don’t live in Germany. How can I buy a copy legally, from America?
Some may call me a philistine, but actually I don’t enjoy listing to piano solos much and I find them boring in some way. To me they don’t tell stories like orchestra music does. But Nuss’ interpretations and performances always have something catchy and I find the use of the word “journey” quite suitable.
I had a listen to “Exotica” once and I really like its sound. Even though it contains music composed by various composers from different times Nuss manages to add his very own sound and to make it sound complete.
Audi,
Thanks for the heads-up on this album! If nothing else, the album pleases me very much because it puts the name “Masashi Hamauzu” next to many well-known and some less-well-known composers of the past few centuries. I haven’t listened yet but I have a feeling I’m going to like it! I also feel the need to mention Tori Amos’ most recent album “Night of Hunters” to anyone who’s willing to take on a reimagining of well-known piano classics:
http://higherplainmusic.com/2011/09/25/tori-amos-night-of-the-hunters-review/ (review from our friend Simon @ Higher Plain Music)
Adar,
I’m pretty sure German Amazon will allow you to purchase the album. Though the shipping costs about as much as the CD itself (cheapest option to US that I found was 14 Euro.) Not sure if they sell the digital version internationally, sometimes they region-lock the digital sales.
http://www.amazon.de/Exotica-Benyamin-Nuss/dp/B0082HGRVO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339963523&sr=8-1
Anna,
I like to think of solo instrument creations and arrangements in the same way one things of limits in visual aesthetic, such as photography taken in color and then edited to grayscale. You lose a lot, but the end product gives our mind something different to chew on. Also, I’m biased towards piano since it’s the only instrument I can play with any skill, so I get excited whenever I hear a master or prodigy like Nuss take on projects like these.
grooves-inc is a good place to buy, I bought “Symphonic Fantasies” and “Nuss plays Uemtasu” from them. I’m not sure about buying from their dedicated store, but they’re good from eBay in terms of shipping (only a few dollars, and you can even save a bit when buying multiple items).