Der Bote: Elegies for Piano
Comprising three centuries of noted composers' "minor" works, Lubimov'sDer Bote(The Messenger) bears out its title with short, introspective  pieces that capture thoughts of nostalgia, mourning, and meditation. The first  work, C.P.E. Bach's 1787 Fantasy, sounds amazingly avant-garde, full of  surprising darts and turns. And the experimental 20th-century composer John  Cage's "In a Landscape" is an even bigger surprise. Instead of random keyboard  plink-plunks, it's a diaphanous Debussyan tone poem, bound to startle party  guests playing Name That Composer.Liszt's otherworldly "Abschied," Glinka's achingly beautiful Nocturne "La  Separation," and Bartók's bleak "Vier Klagelieder" (Four Dirges) are highlights, but so are virtually all the other selections--especially Lubimov's moving  interpretation of Chopin's neglected Prelude op. 45. Valentin Silvestrov is  represented by his stark Elegie, and the fascinating "Der Bote," which vainly  attempts to recall the lost world of classicism through Mozart quotations that  fragment into shards. This is a concept album that works, each short gem casting refracted light on the others. Despite the New Age implications of an album of short, contemplative music, there's solid substance and stunning pianism here.--Dan Davis