Riopy – Thrive (Vinyl LP)

“Thrive was composed throughout the last couple of years, during a period of uncertainty and fear. I have always been convinced that it is in times of adversity that we remember what is essential to us,” says pianist and composer Jean-Philippe Rio-Py, known profesionally as Riopy.

Riopy’s 2023 album Thrive — out April 14 — marks the beginning of a new chapter for the artist. It builds on the success of his trilogy of albums, Riopy (2018), Tree of Light (2019) and Bliss (2021), which have accumulated more than half a billion streams and achieved significant chart success: Tree of Light remains near the top of the Billboard classical chart after more than 120 weeks. It will be the first of his albums to include strings alongside the evocative and powerful pianism which has earned the pianist-composer an ever-growing international following.

Thrive is also a metaphor for Riopy’s personal journey. During Riopy’s unique upbringing in rural France, he found solace in music, improvising on the piano alone as a means to escape the stress and anxiety of the real world. When he was able to listen to music, Riopy would imagine expansions of the melodies he heard.

The album Thrive was born from the same process: “One day, I was playing Satie’s famous Gymnopédie and kept expanding it and from that little seed, Thrive was born. In taking inspiration from the greatest classical composers, I wanted to show how I interpret and shape their music in my mind.”

As well as new compositions for solo piano, the album features the composer-pianist’s take on famous music which has most inspired him, including works by Satie, Pachelbel, Beethoven, Fauré, Debussy and Chopin. He has transformed their much-loved melodies into cinematic scores of his own, and composed lush arrangements for string orchestra.