Not many classical music composers receive an album from Deutsche Grammophon at the age of 27. And not many of these composers have the joy of having the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin entrusted with the musical realization. Indonesian Eunike Tanzil has received both – and deservedly so.

The First of Everything is the title of her debut album, released today. And its composer, Eunike Tanzil, is probably not entirely unknown, at least not to those who occasionally go to the cinema or enjoy American fantasy series. The young woman has contributed to the scores for, among others, the film The Addams Family 2 and the American fantasy series Abdominable and the Invisible City. Her studies may have played a part in this: Tanzil received a scholarship to Berklee College of Music at the age of 17, where she studied film music and composition.

That she has a connection to film scores is also evident in her album. The music of The First of Everything is easy in the accessible sense, without lacking complexity or skill. It offers everything that makes for musical enjoyment: dynamics and drama in the piece "Opening," which actually opens the album and, in the style of a confident overture, opens not doors but gates in just under two minutes. There is much melodiousness in "Pink Sakura," lyrical tenderness in "Reverie" and "Farewell," and longing in "Between Oceans" – the sonic packaging of emotion is an art that Eunike Tanzil masters with virtuosity.

The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, under the direction of 28-year-old Anna Handler, translates the notated mood into acoustic experiences. This, too, is done with utmost mastery: the sound is full, velvety, sensual, powerful, or delicate, depending on what seems coherent and meaningful.

The orchestra's stage is broad and comprehensive, laying an impressive carpet of sound over the carpeting of the listening room. The perceptible frequency spectrum is handled confidently, without the bass becoming intrusive, the midrange overly bulgy, or the treble becoming a taunting taunt.

When The First of Everything comes to a dramatic close after just over 40 minutes with the final notes of Genesis, the listener misses only one thing: the applause of the (nonexistent) audience. Because the album undoubtedly deserves it. (Thomas Semmler, HighResMac)

Eunike Tanzil, piano
Sophie Kauer, cello
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Anna Handler, conductor