Vladimir Horowitz, noted virtuoso pianist and gay man, plays the OCEAN ETUDE by Frédèric Chopin, who was routinely called “fae” and “otherworldly” by the music press and who loved a cigar-smoking, gender-nonconforming writer by the name of George Sand -

HAPPY PRIDE KIDS, be gay do crime stay creative!

xoxo..R

Hey everyone! Last year I wrote and recorded an album of piano solos and songs. It is called Kingdoms, and is available now from all of the services you use to beam music to your ears (links here).

Last year was a lot. For the first time, I confronted some mental health issues I had been harboring for a while, anxieties that were heightened by the state of the world, causing me to sometimes become isolated and frustrated. But I’m grateful to have my wife, my kids, my family, who gave me the clues and nudges I needed to stop avoiding the issues that were right in front of me, screaming to be seen.

So I talked to people. I asked myself questions. And I started writing. A lot. Returning to the piano – the instrument that I have been playing for as long as I can remember – felt good and real and safe, and allowed me to externalize what was going on. And when I played these thoughts back to me, I could confront them, and sit with them in defined intervals, and work through them.

I wrote about twice as much material as ended up on Kingdoms, but by having so much music to work through, I could really focus on the ideas I wanted to develop and explore, and create a musical through-line that I thought would be understandable for me years from now, when I look back at this whole process. And I hope, that when my children are old enough to take notice, they will listen to this, and maybe learn things about their dad that he couldn’t tell them in person.

The stunning album art was created by @zachsleepshere, of Star vs the Forces of Evil andOwl House fame.

I am grateful to my friends, Caren and Kevin, who I first performed with 20 years ago, whose voices grace this project. They are singular talents, two of the best singers I know. And I am thankful for the people at Capitol Studios, and their beautiful 9-foot Yamaha, and engineer Steve Genewick, for making this all sound so good.

xo

MAURIZIO POLLINI - CHOPIN - NOCTURNES

Joseph Suk - O Matince (About mother) - Moravec

Když byla matinka ještě děvčátkem  (When Mother Was Still a Little Girl) 0:00
Kdysi z jara (Long Ago in Spring) 3:37
Jak zpívala matinka za noci chorému děcku (How Mother Sang at Night to The  Sick Child) 7:49
O matinčině srdci  (About Mother´s Heart) 12:18
Vzpomínání (Souvenirs) 17:44

Ivan Moravec Studio recording, Prague, 1962