The River of Anyder

The pure water of the Anyder River flowered through Sir Thomas Moore’s “Utopia”. Italian pianist Stefano Battaglia celebrates it and other mythical and legendary locations in a trio recording of new compositions which spurn self-conscious modernity: “I pushed myself to write songs and dances uninfluenced by the sophistication of contemporary musical languages, striving to shape pieces that might have been played on archaic instruments a thousand years ago.” If the piano trio is itself a modern institution and the group understanding that Battaglia, Maioere and Dani share cannot help but be of-the-moment, Battaglia has nonetheless made an album that feels “timeless”.