The Collectors

De Volkskrant

Konstantyn Napolov, a Ukrainian in the Netherlands, is a percussionist and has decided to enrich his repertoire by inviting as many composers as possible to write pieces for him. On his new album with pianist Eke Simons, released on the adventurous label TRPTK, you can hear works by Moritz Eggert (Germany), Yannis Kyriakides (Cyprus), Samuel Penderbayne (Australia) and Jan-Peter de Graaff (Papendrecht).

The common denominator: The composers incorporated children’s rhymes into their pieces. They are all intriguing in a different way. The work of Kyriakides stands out in its obscurity, Eggert proposes a good dose of humor.

Music Emotion 5 out of 5

The Collectors is the work of Moritz Eggert, one of the four composers that delivered their works for this new TRPTK production. People who collect things do that, says Eggert, to find meaning in this unorganised world. A composer is a collector of music. The piano and percussion are instruments that collect notes. It’s this thought behind the composition performed by Napolov on percussion and pianist Eke Simons.

Simons is a concert pianist who plays the major pieces as soloist, but is also specialized in chamber music and song accompaniment. For the Collectors, works were commissioned of Jan-Peter de Graaff, Yannis Kyriakides, Samuel Penderbayne and Moritz Eggert. Behind every composition there’s its own story, which is portrayed by Napolov and Simons. They paint musical landscapes full of subtleties, excitement and atmospheres.

Ruud Jonker