TwoPianists Records brings you an elegant disc by oboist James Austin Smith in collaboration with pianist Luis Magalhaes and harpist Bridget Kibbey. Most of the works on this disc are, upon first listen, foreign to ears accustomed to a diet of Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn. They are on the chilly periphery of classical music, abrasively private and unrevealing in comparison to their gregarious, largely romantic neighbors. But if they were truly unrelatable, truly alien, they would lack humanity - they would reject curiosity and remain forever opaque. And this is where the beauty of recording is embodied - to the keen, curious ear these works reveal themselves. They shed their frosty outer layer and expose a warmth of expression, a depth of atmosphere and a technicolor palette that rewards unlike any instant-gratification work of art. The work will draw you from being a tolerant (or perhaps even intolerant) neighbor, across its threshold, into a welcoming, if not complex environment. It will foster a deep friendship