Love Songs

Editorial Reviews Amazon.com Love Songs showcases pianist-composer David Lanz in perhaps his most affecting setting--performing solo, or with modest accompaniment, as he summons lovely, heart-touching melodies from some deep, internal reservoir of passion and clarity. The disc is a sampler that draws from seven pre-2000 recordings (plus one live track, an attractive performance of "The Eyes of Amelia" with guitarist Eric Tingstad and oboist Nancy Rumbel), and it features several of Lanz's best-known works--from the famed title track of Cristofori's Dream to a pair of selections ("Song for Monet" and "Leaves on the Seine") from his masterful 1984 release, Nightfall. The recording's concept and title were dreamt up by his former label, since Lanz views himself not as a romantic but merely as an enlightened pilgrim. Only once, he has stated, has he ever written a song with overt romantic intentions--"Leaves on the Seine," which he composed after a visit to Paris with his wife. The rest, he says, simply reflect his optimistic view of a more compassionate world to come. This helps explain the sentimental overload that sometimes creeps into his works. (The schmaltz police, for example, might write him up for a few excesses on "Beloved.") Yet Lanz's heart is ultimately in the right place, and his simple but earnest music makes a persuasive argument for putting yours there, too. --Terry Wood