It's been seven years since Telarc has introduced a new artist, so it's interesting that the label is now taking up the cause of pianist Simone Dinnerstein, who has bucked all kinds of conventions about what a classical artist must be, do, and have in order to build a solo career. She isn't a child prodigy by any means; indeed, the 34-year-old has a five-year-old son of her own. She didn't zoom to public attention by winning any big competitions. She rented Carnegie Hall's most intimate performing space, Weill Recital Hall, for her performance there. Even her Telarc debut, J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, is the result of her own initiative.

She originally financed the album, which Telarc then picked up for release. She does arrive on the scene with a certain pedigree. A Juilliard graduate, she studied with Peter Serkin. Her other teachers included Maria Curcio, who was in turn a pupil of Artur Schnabel. It takes quite a bit of self-assurance to make the Goldbergs one's first recording stop. It's music more monastic than theatric, and there are so many other performances that haunt listeners' memories. Dinnerstein's tempos and articulations might not suit all comers, but as the New York Times noted at that now famous Weill recital, it's an "individual, compelling performance." True indeed. Her Telarc debut hits stores Aug. 28.

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