A1 	Opus 54 	4:36
A2 	Opus 7 	3:17
A3 	Prelude N.3 	3:47
A4 	Opus 21 	3:49
A5 	Opus 15 	2:56
B1 	Opus 28 	3:18
B2 	Opus 17 	1:58
B3 	Opus 23 	2:58
B4 	Opus 38 	5:49
B5 	Opus 37 	3:48

Dustin O'Halloran - piano

Recorded live at Grunewald Church, Berlin. 

‘Vorleben’, Dustin O’Halloran’s second release for 130701, quickly follows his arresting ‘Lumiere’ album, released in February 2011 to rapturous response. A live album for solo piano, recorded in concert in the beautiful Grunewald church of his hometown Berlin, the record demonstrates O’Halloran’s abilities as both pianist and composer. It is as stately, elegant and hushed as its setting, full of held notes and chords gently resonating with the utmost expressiveness. The product of a bright and wholly singular talent, Dustin’s music has roots in the Bach, Satie or Chopin piano solos of traditional classical music, whilst employing strong and unique tones of ambient music, post-rock and dream-pop.

All the pieces here are taken from Dustin’s two solo records – ‘Piano Solos vol. 1′ and ‘Piano Solos vol. 2′, released in 2004 and 2006 respectively (with the exception of ‘Opus 54’ and ‘Prelude N. 3’; though these are taken from the same compositional period) – but are recgoniseably accorded different characteristics and nuances to the album versions of those tracks. Perhaps not least because, shortly before performing this concert, Dustin received news that his grandmother had passed away. Though his music is undeniably imbued with a sorrowful melancholia, there is something that goes even further here – a purity and reverence in the completely unamplified performance, as if Dustin were playing to no audience at all.

Vorleben was initially released in April 2010 on Berlin’s limited-pressing boutique label Sonic Pieces as a 400-copy CD edition housed in the label’s characteristically hand pressed packaging. Even this small run of CD’s garnered some astonishing reviews and press coverage.

A synaesthete, self-taught pianist from the age of 7, O’Halloran’s personal histories give us some clue to the thickly-woven tapestries of his music: he has lived in LA (where he studied art at Santa Monica College and formed the much-adored alt. pop duo Devics with Sara Lov), Italy (in the depths of rural Emilia Romagna) and now Berlin. He began writing piano solo pieces to satisfy a creative impulse not sated by Devics. Initially quietly and privately pieced-together piano suites written and recorded on a beautifully-restored 1920’s Sabel piano in his Italian farmhouse, the compositions gradually grew into fully-formed solo pieces as Dustin’s ambitions and designs developed. The path would eventually lead him to Lumiere’s majestic, swooning ensemble arrangements, but not before committing these live versions of the Piano Solos pieces to ‘Vorleben’. Significantly, the title translates from German as ‘past life’.

Having gained serious recognition with his stunning score to Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film ‘Marie Antoinette’ (which sits neatly alongside his soundtrack work for William Olsen’s ‘An American Affair’ (2010) and Drake Doremus’ Sundance-winning ‘Like Crazy’ (2011), Dustin has quickly become one of the most recogniseable names in the broad-reaching “post-classical” field, helping to define the genre rather than allowing it to define his work. Now placed alongside peers and friends Max Richter, Hauschka and Jóhann Jóhannsson (who, incidentally, aided Dustin in mixing Lumiere) on FatCat’s dedicated orchestral imprint 130701, his music is destined to pique the ears of fans of contemporaries Nico Muhly, Peter Broderick, Nils Frahm (who engineered on both ‘Lumiere’ and ‘Vorleben’) and Goldmund. ---130701.com

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1 	A Great Divide 	6:19
2 	Opus 44 	2:48
3 	We Move Lightly  (Violin – Peter Broderick)	3:10
4 	Quartet N.2 	3:13
5 	Opus 43 	6:30
6 	Quintette N.1 	5:12
7 	Fragile N.4 	3:30
8 	Opus 55 	6:05
9 	Snow + Light 	6:34

Cello – Clarice Jensen
Electronics, Effects [Processing] – Jóhann Jóhannsson
Piano, Synthesizer [Analogue], Electronics, Celesta, Organ [Celestina] – Dustin O'Halloran
Viola – Nadia Sirota
Violin – Ben Russell, Yuki Numata 
Strings – ACME

Born in California but based in Berlin, Dustin O’Halloran is an artist whose world-weary piano work – beguiling and beautiful, but laced with a certain, end-credits fatigue – has taken him from LA-based dream-poppers Devics to contributing tracks to Sofia Coppola’s bold but flawed 2006 film Marie Antoinette, and further still, to a pair of Piano Solo sets (released via Bella Union) and the soundtrack to An American Affair. He is an artist steadily making a name for himself, both in music industry circles and cinematic ones. Anyone who heard either of his Piano Solo collections will know that O’Halloran’s expression of myriad emotions in his keystrokes is excellent – and this rather fuller, strings-and-all offering is more embracing, still.

O’Halloran is here aided by the ACME ensemble of New York, a troupe whose string contributions have lent depth to recent recordings by Grizzly Bear and Owen Pallet. But while there’s more happening in the mix, like the pianist’s solo arrangements, everything feels streamlined – linear, maybe, but only when the end is worth skipping the diversions for. There’s always a destination at the forefront of O’Halloran’s compositions, and the joy comes from the journey itself, rather than the rest-stops or spot-the-whatever motorway games. Sometimes the conclusion is telegraphed at the outset: Opus 43 begins with light touches at the top end of the range, plays it straight through strings that weave like slow-motion display team jets, and rather ends where it began. Elsewhere, A is very different from B, but no less beautiful for a shift in texture – Fragile N. 4 is such a piece, which swells come its downward curve in a manner that mirrors the measured hardening of a lump in a throat.

If O’Halloran’s Piano Solo releases had a flaw, it’s that their hands were shown rather early, and that longevity – when stripped of an accompaniment, be it on a screen or outside a window – was questionable. They were collections of mood pieces, time and place dependent on the individual but certainly unsuited to more regular visits. Here, though, there’s greater warmth, a universally affecting resonance, that should ensure Lumiere is more frequently plucked from stillness on a shelf and allowed to wander its way into the heart. That, ultimately, is where these tracks wind their ways to; and, given the opportunity, it’s there that they will stay. ---Mike Diver, BBC Review

Starting with the quiet chimes and swirls of synth texture and drone of "A Great Divide," Dustin O'Halloran on Lumiere creates a world of contemplative, post-classical elegance. In a time when musicians from These New Puritans to Peter Broderick and Sylvain Chauveau thrive, little wonder that O'Halloran has found his own context. O'Halloran's piano-only pieces have all the direct beauty one could want, with such compositions as "Opus 44" embracing the solitary approach with gentle passion. The selections with further arrangements, as with the opening song, show O'Halloran's work in a more distinct light, bringing out a ghostly, melancholic glow. "Opus 43," seemingly straightforward in its piano/quartet arrangement, emphasizes careful use of space while also permitting a little rush of playful energy at one point. "We Move Lightly," with its simple but effective solitary violin in the second half of the song, further contrasts with the full string section performance of "Quartet N. 2," eschewing the then constant piano work on the album entirely. Perhaps "Fragile N. 4," its appropriate name denoting the soft blend of piano, strings, and what could almost be a music box melody at one point, is the album's high point, a quietly sweeping number that feels like it could end one of the sweetest movies ever made. ---Ned Raggett, AllMusic Review

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