Releasing or essentially re-releasing albums as expanded, deluxe, or whatever editions has lost its special event status as it has become a sort of habit both fro record companies and/or artists, as it has become just another vehicle of monetising work that has already started to gather the patina of history. And it makes no difference whether such music deserves this expanded/deluxe treatment or not; instead of being exceptions, such editions become a music industry rule.
And yes, US composer/pianist Dustin O’Halloran has taken that route himself with this expanded edition of his 2011 album Lumiere. Yet, the problem with it is not that it is just another release that creates the expanded edition pile(s) – the problem is that its excellent compositional and musicianship quality might get lost in the pile of those that were good (or not so good) as they originally were.
O’Halloran himself notes that this expanded edition of Lumiere’ “holds a special place for me, as it was a time of great transition and experimentation,” and he is completely right there. It was (and still is) one of the leading works that set an explosion of modern classical albums written and performed when O’Halloran was a part of a composers/musicians group that included other big names of the genre – “like Max Richter, Peter Broderick, Nils Frahm, and the late Jóhann Jóhannsson.”
You can actually both hear and feel the interconnection of different ideas and concepts with each of those artists, including O’Halloran, who took an interesting thread and then gave it their individual vision and stamp. In this manner, such music, and that includes Lumiere, is the one that deserves this expanded treatment; quite a few other albums don’t.
