David Rakowski's music in general, and his continually expanding collection of solo piano Etudes in particular - at this writing 48 of what he projects ot be 50 or more have been composed - are laced with examples of his agile mind and sheer delight in his ability to, as he puts it, "play games with the ways that notes get put together." It seems particularly felicitous to invoke the name of Haydn when discussing the music of David Rakowski. Like Haydn, Rakowski combines a genuine seriousness of purpose and absolute command of a highly sophisticated technique with flahses of humor that is by turns wry, more than a little bent, whimsical and even, at times, outrageous. Obvious manifestations of this can include not only the punning titles of so many of Rakowski's pieces, including those of the Etudes on this disk, but also the performance indications in the score themselves ("Allegro troppo" - too fast"; "pipistrello in uscita dal inferno" - "bat out of hell"). Pianist Amy Dissanayke makes her recorded debut with stunning performances of twenty-two of Rakowski's Etudes, many receiving their premiere recordings. This disc is for fans of virtuoso pianism and new music that is simultaneously subtle, richly complex and teeming with ideas, yet lucid in structure and distinctive in profile.