Elliott Carter: The Complete Music for Piano;

Opening with a fleshy, resonant version of "90+," which was nominated for a 1998 Grammy award, this Carter collection is special not only for Charles Rosen's execution but also for the CD-closing conversation between performer and composer. Rosen opens the chat with a demonstration of how harmonic dissonance at once backlights and highlights Carter's famed rhythmic explorations. And Carter tells him, "This is the way we experience many things, the idea that one thing comments on another constantly." That's how Carter's music is, also constantly: frontal harmonic shocks, whether ringing tremulously or jumping in bursts of flash--as in Rosen's read of the Piano Sonata--are in dialogue with silence, rhythmic twists, and plainly beautiful constructions that sound in-process. The addition of "90+" and Bridge's customary rounded, warm sonic spaciousness make this collection superior to Rosen's Etcetera Carter collection. And for a more restrained, abstract look at "90+," try Ursula Oppens's version. --Andrew Bartlett