Pianist Bruce Liu journeys through the night on disc ‘Lunaris,’ out Aug. 7 on DG

For his next release on Deutsche Grammophon, out Aug. 7, pianist Bruce Liu has recorded a concept album titled “Lunaris.” As the name suggests, the disc consists of works associated with nighttime and the moon. On “Lunaris,” Liu journeys through the night, imagination and transcendence as he performs some of the most iconic piano works ever written. 

"The night is the moment when reflection and creative energy meet,” Liu said in a statement. “The idea of ’Lunaris’ came to me as a word that sounds both familiar and mysterious. The root, ‘luna,’ immediately evokes the moon, the night and a certain kind of light that is indirect and deeply intimate. It describes those hours when the external world becomes quiet and the inner world opens a space for imagination, for sensitivity and for a different perception of time.”

Liu, who returns to Chicago for a recital Nov. 1 at Orchestra Hall, will perform some of the works featured on the disc, including Beethoven’s Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (Moonlight) and Debussy’s Rêverie.

Liu calls “Lunaris“ ”not only a selection of pieces I love, but it’s also my attempt at creating a new way of listening and experiencing sound that has grown inside of me. This atmosphere of suspended time, and the co-existence of intimacy and distance, are things I recognize in my daily relationship with [the piano].” 

In the months leading up to his win at the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition, Liu realized that many of his best musical ideas came to him in his dreams. Now, as a touring artist, he frequently finds himself working late. “It’s often the only time that silence and concentration, in the sense of timelessness, are possible,” he said. His experience of working into the wee hours inspired the idea of an album about moonlight and dreams, darkness and daybreak.

At the heart of “Lunaris” are Beethoven’s legendary “Moonlight” and “Waldstein” sonatas. Around these works, Liu unfolds a program of what he describes as being full of “extraordinary atmosphere and emotional depth.” It brings together iconic piano pieces and hidden gems. Chopin’s Nocturne, Debussy’s Rêverie and Bach’s Prelude in E Minor, BWV 855a (arr. by Alexander Siloti) join contemporary gems by Federico Mompou, John Cage, Agnes Obel and György Ligeti.

“Lunaris” ends with Cage’s hypnotic Dream: “After the whole journey of the album, Dream feels like a place where gravity fully disappears,“ Liu said. ”So I chose it as the final piece because it does not close the journey, but instead leaves it open.”