Notes and Editorial Reviews
This music comes from the Exiles’ Café, a place both real and metaphorical where the travelers of the world gather to find a home away from home, a place where journeys converge and histories collide.
The miniatures collected here tell stories of the transformative passage from what is left behind to what is discovered ahead. They speak to vanished worlds and altered lives, to the fragility of destiny and the possibilities of new beginnings: postcards from the Exiles' Café.
Also available: Exiles' Café features the first movement of
Erich Wolfgang Korngold's 2nd Piano Sonata. The complete work was recorded and is available as an
extended
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CD single and download. Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Hungarian folksongs (3) from the Csik district, Sz 35a by Béla Bartók
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1907; Budapest, Hungary
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 3 Minutes 12 Secs.
2.
Mazurkas (4) for Piano, B 60/Op. 6: no 1 in F sharp minor by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1830; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 3 Minutes 31 Secs.
3.
Pieces (3) for Piano, Op. 59: no 3, Pastoral Sonatina in C major by Sergei Prokofiev
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1933-1944
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 4 Minutes 58 Secs.
4.
Dumka for Piano no 2, H 250 by Bohuslav Martinu
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1936; Czechoslovakia
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 2 Minutes 25 Secs.
5.
Dumka for Piano no 3, H 285b by Bohuslav Martinu
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1941; New York, USA
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 1 Minutes 40 Secs.
6.
Tango by Igor Stravinsky
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1940; USA
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 3 Minutes 2 Secs.
7.
Prelude for Piano in D minor, Op. posthumous by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1917; Russia
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 3 Minutes 4 Secs.
8.
Lost in the Stars: Lost in the stars by Kurt Weill
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; USA
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 4 Minutes 27 Secs.
Notes: Arrangement: Jed Distler
9.
Sonata for Piano no 2 in E major, Op. 2: 1st movement, Moderato by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1910; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 8 Minutes 48 Secs.
10.
Africa: Land of Romance by William Grant Still
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: USA
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 6 Minutes 53 Secs.
11.
Preludes (6) for Piano: no 1 by Paul Bowles
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1938; USA
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 1 Minutes 44 Secs.
12.
Preludes (6) for Piano: no 2 by Paul Bowles
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1945; USA
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 1 Minutes 0 Secs.
13.
Preludes (6) for Piano: no 3 by Paul Bowles
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1943; USA
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 1 Minutes 24 Secs.
14.
Preludes (6) for Piano: no 6 by Paul Bowles
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944; USA
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 1 Minutes 50 Secs.
15.
Exiles' Cafe: Tango by Michael Sahl
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1984; USA
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 3 Minutes 48 Secs.
16.
Rag Caprices (3) for Piano, Op. 78: no 2, Romance by Darius Milhaud
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1922; France
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 1 Minutes 50 Secs.
17.
Fragments by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1917; Russia
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 2 Minutes 3 Secs.
18.
Mazurkas (4) for Piano, Op. 68: no 4 in F minor, B 168 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1849; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 2 Minutes 12 Secs.
19.
Miniatures (6) for Piano: no 6, Addio by Mohammed Fairouz
Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Date of Recording: 9/2012
Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
Length: 2 Minutes 18 Secs.
Sound Samples
3 Hungarian Folksongs from the Csik District, BB 45b: No. 1. Rubato
3 Hungarian Folksongs from the Csik District, BB 45b: No. 2. L'istesso tempo
3 Hungarian Folksongs from the Csik District, BB 45b: No. 3. Poco vivo
Mazurka No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 6, No. 1
3 Pieces, Op. 59: No. 3. Sonatina pastorale
Lost in the Stars (arr. J. Distler for piano): Lost in the Stars, Act I: Lost In The Stars (arr. J. Distler for piano)
Piano Sonata No. 2 in E major, Op. 2: I. Moderato
Africa (arr. for piano): Africa: II. Land of Romance (arr. for piano)
3 Rag Caprices, Op. 78 (version for piano solo): 3 Rag Caprices, Op. 78: No. 2. Romance (version for piano solo)
Mazurka No. 49 in F minor, Op. 68, No. 4
Piano Miniature No. 6, "Addio"
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 1 Customer Review )
maybe not for me April 23, 2013
By alexander gafford (Midland, GA) See All My Reviews
"This CD is very much a concept CD revolving around the notion of an Exile's Cafe and the music that might express the feelings of those who are in exile there. The music is carefully selected from composers of the 19th and 20th century who had in one way or another the experiece of exile. Lara Downes playing is clear and careful and the sound on the Steinway label is excellent. So why does this only get 3 stars from me? Well, it is not due to any intrinsic defect in the concept or production. Rather my imagination just does not connect up this music with the thoughts and feelings of exile. That might happen for someone more imaginative or perhaps I have not listened to the music at the right time and in the right place. In any case, I can't give four stars to a CD I don't expect to listen to very much. If you think you are in a place to make such connections, you will do well to buy the work. If not, then it is just a collection of, on the face of it, unremarkable piano pieces."
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