Tirimo is a fine pianist with first-rate technical command, and understands Debussy's world well. (Gramophone). "Probably first choice for those wanting a modern digital recording offering the complete set... recording most realistic and natural." (Penguin Guide). "A most enjoyable recital, and one for which listeners will be grateful... What is Impressive is the pianist's integration of fragility and firmness, simplicity and complexity." (Gramophone). "I'm glad to be able to praise a fluid but unhurried Jeux d'eau that is well served, too, by the velvety-rich recorded sound... it 's attractive. So are the Sonatine, and the tenderly solemn Pavane pour une infante defunte." (Gramophone). "Dickinson made Satie's music a center point of his repertoire, and his thoughtful approach to this highly rewarding music is all his own... variety of articulation and color is fully at the service of the composer." (Penguin Guide).

This disc is part of a series of Fauré's complete piano music and contains two works better known in orchestral form with some less well known originals. The four pieces from Pelléas et Mélisande in their original version are some of the most subtle of the composer's music written for the stage. The opening Prélude sets the scene and introduces themes representing the naivety of the heroine and the passion she is unable to escape. This is followed by a Fileuse, the introduction to Act 3 where Mélisande is at her spinning wheel. The Sicilienne, introduction to the fountain scene of Act 2, is the one part of the suite Fauré composed some years earlier and scored himself for sextet. Finally, La mort de Mélisande (The Death of Mélisande) is an intense parallel to the heroine's music in the Prélude, portraying her Act 5 death scene. The Pavane was orchestrated at a later date and the original version for piano of this well-known piece shows that the simple archaic melody should be played at a faster speed than is the case with the orchestral or choral versions. The four Valses-caprices are not a cycle. The two earlier pieces were written in the early 1880s, the later pair a decade later. Although Saint-Saëns enjoyed Opp. 30 and 38. Their indebtedness to Chopin and their attempt at capriciousness does not suit Fauré's introverted nature. The later pieces are more successful and. #despite retaining traces of the virtuoso style, are more introspective, nearer to the true nature of the composer. The Mazurka hints again at a tribute to Chopin, but shows no debts to Polish folk rhythms. Similar in style to the Valses Caprices, it has a haunting central slow section.

The appearance of Fauré's Requiem in the 1880s, a decade during which the composer's most successful compositions were songs and piano pieces, can on I y be explained by the fine choral music which preceded it. The Messe basse represents Fauré at his most practical. Written in conjunction with the French composer and organist André Messager (also at one time assistant to Widor at St Sulpice) during a holiday in Normandy in 1881, the Messe basse was composed for the modest forces of a local church. A setting of the motet O salutaris hostia and the Kyrie were Messager's contribution; the remaining movements of the Ordinary, without the Credo, were set by Fauré. When revising the score in 1906 Fauré adapted the violin and harmonium accompaniment for organ, at the same time excising the Gloria and replacing Messager's Kyrie with one of his own. The final version of the Messe basse is one of the few existing settings of the mass for female voices and organ. The youthful Cantique de Jean Racine dates from 1865 when Fauré was studying with Saint-Saëns at the Ecole Niedermeyer in Paris. The Cantique earned Fauré a premier prix in composition and is a testament to the young composer's melodic genius and to his penchant for rich textures. This recording is an attempt to move Fauré's liturgical music from the concert hall to the church. In particular, the reconstruction of nineteenth-century French ecclesiastical pronunciation and the restoration of Fauré's preferred phrasing are just two of the most useful elements in the search for the composer's intentions. To those familiar with the more expansive versions of Fauré's Requiem there will inevitably be unfamiliar textures in this performance. However, few of Fauré's romantic gestures are lost in the chamber version, and moreover, the reserved translucence of the instrumentation emphasizes the fact that the Requiem -and indeed all the choral music recorded here - was originally designed for liturgical performance.

REVIEWS:
BBC Music (6/98, p.67) - Performance: 3 (out of 5), Sound: 4 (out of 5) - "...the exquisite and atmospheric miniatures that make up the Mozariaan 'Masques et bergamasques' and the incidental music for 'Pelléas et Mélisande'....feel ever fresh....The 'Shylock' suite....contains beautiful moments and Lynda Russell's pure, light voice suits the style very well..."

From William Byrd, Gabriel Faure and Sergei Rachmaninoff to Reena Esmail, Errollyn Wallen and Bob Chilcott, the RBC Chamber Choir presents a richly varied celebration of Christmas choral music, echoing it's popular annual candlelit performances at Compton Verney in Warwickshire. Conducted by Julian Wilkins, the choir captures the warmth, wonder and exhilaration of the Christmas season in a programme spanning five centuries of choral music.

This anticipated release is the first volume in a new series devoted to the music of Gabriel Faure, which is spearheaded by Louis Lortie. Lortie states in the booklet notes: “this album purposely travels through Faure’s various creative periods, from easily appealing early pieces such as the Pavane and the melodie “Apres un reve” through to the late and unjustly neglected Preludes, a masterpiece of condensed harmonic and melodic audacity.” Lortie’s previous series dedicated to Chopin has garnered critical praise. BBC Music called the series “an exceptionally high order of playing.” The same kind of praise is expected for this new series. French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie tours extensively across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He has won widespread acclaim for his Chopin and Ravel interpretations, and has performed all five Beethoven concertos and all of the Mozart concertos. The London Times described his playing as “ever immaculate, ever imaginative.”

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REVIEW:

Lortie understands the type of discretion needed to make this music sing, knows the veiled colours it requires, and has the sort of technique to project Fauré’s signature elusiveness. Above all, he identifies fully with Fauré’s chromaticism and understands its use to create space and light.

– ClassicalSource.com

Unaffectedly straightforward with a disarming simplicity in which charm lifts imperceptibly into the most intense utterance, moving us compellingly through the salon-like early pieces to the increasingly desolate soundscapes of old age. Exemplary. Classic. Spellbinding.



FAURÉ Nocturnes (complete) • Charles Owen (pn) • AVIE 2133 (79:36)


Fauré’s son, Philippe Fauré-Fremiet, described the composer’s playing: “His hands were strong and looked heavy; in fact they were supple and light. He hardly raised them above the keys but was able to obtain any effect he wanted. He had a horror of virtuosity, of rubato and effects aimed at making the audience swoon. He followed the printed notes meticulously, keeping strict time. What was so overpowering about his playing lay below the surface, in the areas of thought and emotion where teaching is helpless to guide you.” To which Jessica Duchen, in her annotations for David Jalbert’s unfortunate tilt at the nocturnes (Endeavour 1014, Fanfare 30:1), adds, “To play Fauré’s piano works successfully, a pianist must have a tremendously flexible technique, a strong sense of contrapuntal voicing and, perhaps above all, the ability to convey those sensuous, intertwining lines and subtle harmonies without allowing structural rigor to slacken. While playing this music with no expressive fluctuation whatsoever could seem excessive, a healthy respect for his ‘pudeur’—modesty veiling the immense sensuality beneath—is as essential to faithful Fauré interpretation as good posture is to the dance.” Both observations describe Charles Owen’s way with the nocturnes—unaffectedly straightforward, rhythmically steady (but breathing and never rigid or inflexible), the pedal sparingly used, allowing a light touch (graciously deft in animated passages) to articulate with absolute clarity while imparting moments of aquarelle-like color (rather than the heavily sustained impasto of the average pianist), all making for a disarming simplicity in which charm lifts imperceptibly into the most intense utterance, moving us compellingly through the salon-like early pieces, the opulent ecstasies of the middle nocturnes, and the increasingly desolate and despairing soundscapes of old age. Duchen confects a final elegance with other, no less gracefully penetrating, annotations. Avie captures Owen closely, at the optimal point where clarity flares into spaciousness. Exemplary. Classic. Spellbinding. And enthusiastically recommended.


FANFARE: Adrian Corleonis