Awake and Dreaming is a different proposition from previous releases by Canadian composer Alice Ping Yee Ho. There are no orchestras or chamber ensembles here, nor is this an opera or narrative construction. Only piano, and above all largely atonal piano, which is surprising if you’re only familiar with the releases of recent years. That said, despite these “thought-through” and rather formalist arrangements, we can still recognize Ms. Ho’s sense of expression and dramatic discourse in the chromatic cascades, delicate touches and feverish nervousness of most of the pieces. The first piece on the program, Aeon, won the prize for best contemporary piece at the 64th Busoni Piano Competition. Katherine Dowling’s precise playing and technical mastery help to make this busy but brilliant music thoroughly enjoyable. However, having listened to Zitong Wang’s remarkable version of Aeon at the Busoni Competition (video above), I can see that even more can be done in terms of clarity, luminosity and narrative coherence. This means that this music has excellent potential for dissemination and interpretive exploration.
