A second solo album from Telarc, a release party at (Le) Poison Rouge: Simone Dinnerstein is on a roll:

Park Slope pianist Simone Dinnerstein will celebrate the release of her second solo album, “The Berlin Concert” (Telarc 80715), by returning to (Le) Poisson Rouge on Thursday, August 28 for a CD release party and performance. In June, Ms. Dinnerstein was the first classical musician to perform at the new multimedia art cabaret, located at the site of the historic Village Gate at 158 Bleecker Street in NYC. On August 28, she will perform Bach’s French Suite No. 5 in G major and Philip Lasser’s Twelve Variations on a Chorale by J.S. Bach, which are included on her new CD. Doors open at 7 pm, and the concert begins at approximately 7:30 pm. Seating is on a first-come, first-served, general admission basis. Brewery Ommegang will provide one complimentary Ommegang beer for each audience member over the age of 21.

“The Berlin Concert” is a live recording of Ms. Dinnerstein’s recital debut at the Kammermusiksaal of the Philharmonie in Berlin , which took place on November 22, 2007. The program features J.S. Bach’s French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV 816; the world premiere recording of American composer Philip Lasser’s Variations on a Bach Chorale; and Beethoven’s landmark Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111. Grammy Award-winning engineer Adam Abeshouse produced the CD.

Ms. Dinnerstein chose this program because of how the pieces speak to each other, and because of their relationship to the music of Bach. She explains, “My hope was to program a group of pieces that would contrast with and relate to each other, despite being separated by hundreds of years. So much music written since Bach has been influenced by him, and the Beethoven and the Lasser recorded here are no exceptions.

Philip Lasser’s variations on the very dark Bach chorale, Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott (Take from us, Lord, Thou faithful God), draw on Bach’s intense and meditative side. Lasser’s writing is intricately crafted and encompasses a range of styles, from a contrapuntal energy reminiscent of Bach, to French Impressionism and even jazz. Beethoven’s Opus 111 sounds surprisingly contemporary in this company. The first movement looks ahead to Liszt and the second movement, with its set of variations on a chorale-like arietta, looks back to Bach and ahead to jazz. All three works are densely layered, but also have a sense of freedom and directness of expression. Though they span almost 300 years, in many ways, to me, they each feel grounded in the present.”