Classical Music

Armand Silvestre had actually wanted to pursue a military career, but then worked in a senior position in the French Ministry of Finance. He increasingly devoted himself to his real passion: literature. Numerous composers felt inspired by Silvestre's poetry, above all Gabriel Faure. Faure even set Mystere to music before the official publication of the poem in the volume "Le pays des roses" (The Land of Roses, 1882). He gave his "Melodie" the different title "Le secret": mysterious and melancholy, accompanied by simple yet harmonically rich piano sounds.

Research, experimentation, discovery and rediscovery of new forms and ways of expression are the basis of a musician's work and, in the realisation of this project, they represent the cornerstones of an artistic partnership intended to give value to an important part of the saxophone repertoire, namely that related to transcriptions with piano accompaniment. Though the saxophone is a relatively recent instrument, it became a leading protagonist on the musical scene of the 20th century. While it was not immediately given consideration by the great composers who were contemporary to the instrument's birth and initial diffusion, it does possess the versatility and timbral and expressive characteristics to allow it to draw on repertoire intended for other instruments. In doing so, it gives these works a new look and an innovative as well as valid interpretation. This album brings together three works that - considering the varied stylistic characteristics and expressive intentions of the three composers - represent a clear example of how the saxophone can faithfully return the founding idea of each piece to the listener, radically modifying it without altering it's nature. The Fantasie Op.79 by Gabriel Faur� (1898), originally for flute and piano, was written in response to a commission for an examination piece: 'it must be short, 5 or 6 minutes at the most [.] and include the means needed to test the examinees on matters of phrasing, expression, control of tone and virtuosity'. A short time after Adolphe Sax patented the saxophone, Edvard Grieg wrote his First Violin Sonata (1865). The author himself described it as 'still a little naive but rich in melodic ideas'. In three movements and characterised by an almost spring-like atmosphere, it is adorned with references to Norwegian folk music which lend a rather grave and turbulent tone to some sections of the work. More 'recent' (by then the saxophone was heading towards the popularity it deserved) is Sergei Prokofiev's Sonata in D Op.94, originally written for flute and piano in 1943. It immediately drew the attention of the great violinist David Oistrakh, who proposed a violin version of the work to the composer which later became known as Op.94bis. A fundamental work of both the flute and violin literatures, here it is presented in it's adaptation for soprano saxophone and piano, and the work continues to embody inventive freshness and lively elegance of writing.

Classical Music

For his latest release on Sony Classical, pianist Lucas Debargue turns to one of the unsung treasuries of the piano repertoire: the works of Gabriel Fauré.

In a remarkable undertaking, Debargue has recorded every note of his compatriot’s piano music, all on a newly designed piano rarely heard on record until now. Throughout each recording, he retraced Fauré's musical path, from his earliest works to his final compositions. "Recording it," says the pianist, has "transformed my life both as a person and as a musician."

Debargue’s recording of Fauré’s complete piano works is a major recording event of the Fauré anniversary, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death in 1924. A comprehensive set of sleeve notes notes includes the pianist’s own commentary on each piece, an analysis of Fauré’s approach to writing for the piano, and full details of the Paulello Opus 102 instrument he plays on the recordings.

Classical Music

Here is all the chamber music composed by Gabriel Fauré between 1875 and 1924. These recordings, now viewed as benchmark versions, feature some of the finest artists on the French and international scene: violinist Daishin Kashimoto, cellist François Salque, violist Lise Berthaud, pianist Alexandre Tharaud, flautist Emmanuel Pahud, clarinettist Paul Meyer and the Quatuor Ébène. An exceptional project initiated by the pianist Éric Le Sage, whose 2019 recording of the thirteen Nocturnes completes the anthology.

Classical Music

1883 was a fruitful year for cello composition as Christoph Croisé’s new recording reveals. That year marked Edvard Grieg’s return to composition after a period of conducting the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, with the Sonata in A minor, his only work for cello and piano. Also that year, Richard Strauss was writing for the same combination at the age of just 19, producing his Sonata in F. Gabriel Fauré embarked on a cello sonata in 1880; only the slow movement transpired and was published and premiered as the stand-alone piece Élégie in 1883. Christoph’s regular performing partner, Oxana Shevchenko, joins him in this beautifully balanced recording of works for cello and piano.

This collection of Gabriel Fauré’s mélodies is the first recording to be conceived for a bass voice. It juxtaposes some of the composer’s best-loved songs with some of his lesser-known works. This recital program draws out connections of poets and poetic themes, some of which restore the composer’s own original groupings. This is also the first recording to be based on the new Peters Edition, which eliminates countless errors in older publications. The young American bass Jared Schwartz received the 2013 ‘People’s Choice’ Award in the American Traditions Vocal Competition.

REVIEW:

There are a total of 25 songs on this disc and each of them has been recorded with care and affection for the music of this wonderful French songwriter. Schwartz’s excellent new recording on Toccata gives us pristine sound; it is a recording that should be in the collection of everyone who loves French song.

-- Fanfare

Intriguing vocal works by Brahms, Fauré, Beach, Price, Barber and others, sung by an up-and-coming tenor of great promise.

The French violinist Hugues Borsarello draws this programme of miniatures from the repertory of his instrument and from the great operatic arias, transcribed for violin and orchestra: ‘My idea was to relate a French history of music over the course of three centuries, in the form of short pieces.’ Lully’s Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs rubs shoulders with arias by Bizet, Saint-Saëns and Offenbach, Satie’s Gymnopédie no.3 and Gounod’s Ave Maria. All these universally known pieces ‘are perfectly suited to the soul of the violin’, says Borsarello, who is joined by prestigious guests: cellist Gautier Capuçon for Vieuxtemps’s Duo Brillant, guitarist Thomas Dutronc for Django Reinhardt’s celebrated Nuages, pianist Frank Braley.

And this programme doesn’t neglect the classics of the violin, including Ysaÿe’s magnificent Berceuse de l'enfant pauvre. Vieuxtemps’s famous set of variations on Yankee Doodle is here performed for the first time in its version with orchestra.

Rebecca Taio’s choice to program these well-known pieces from the great repertoire for violin and piano has to do with the technical challenges they pose, both instrumentally and interpretatively.

While the transcription of the Five Pieces by Respighi is a first (no one having thought to arrange them for flute and piano before), the sonatas by Faureì and Franck are already a part of the chamber tradition for flute and piano. Nonetheless, the artists have made further revisions to these two works, coming up with alternative solutions to the ones normally used in such a way as to be as close as possible to the originals. Franck’s Sonata in A major for violin and piano (1886) creates the ideal end-piece for this musical journey.

Since their debut 30 years ago, guitarists Per Pålsson and Jesper Sivebaek - the Scandinavian Guitar Duo has established themselves among the most popular
chamber ensembles in Denmark. They literally exploded on the concert scene just shortly after graduating from the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, Southern Denmark when they won first prize in Danish Radio’s prestigious Chamber Music Competition. From that auspicious beginning their fame and accomplishments continue to grow, receiving the Sonning Foundation’s special Segovia Prize, founded by the legendary Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia as well as taking Gold or Silver in many international guitar competitions. The Duo has toured in Europe, USA and China. While impeccable in their musicianship, it is their incredible interconnectedness as a duo, performing almost as a single instrument, that has wowed critics and audiences the world over.

For their new album, Per and Jesper chose some of the pieces they love most dearly and have played for many years. From their own arrangement of Handel’s virtuosic Chaconne to the enchanting innocence of Faure’s Dolly Suites, (written by Faure for his daughter), an original from Fernando Sor, the Paganini of the guitar, and of course, a stop along the way to sunny Spain, courtesy of Enrique Granados as well. While fans of the guitar will thrill to the Duo’s effortless precision, this is an album that most fully displays the guitar as beloved broadcaster and teacher Jim McCutcheon has described as “the instrument held closest to the heart.”

Received opinion holds that the subtle inner workings of Fauré's solo piano works are difficult to communicate across the footlights of a standard size concert hall. I doubt, however, that Sally Pinkas believes so. Each of Fauré's 13 Nocturnes benefits from Pinkas' ample, full-bodied tone and confident yet never aggressive projection. She is less inclined to savor the first five Nocturnes' wistful melodies than to interpret the composer's "molto espressivo" directions by fashioning the right hand phrases into paragraphic statements that keep the storylines vibrantly afloat. At the same time, Pinkas is astutely attuned to the later Nocturnes' allusive harmonic language and bleak surface style. In general, her playing proves a compelling foil to the drier, small-roomed intimacy characterizing Jean-Phillipe Collard's reference EMI set, and the extraordinary, classic mono traversals by Germaine Thyssens-Valentin (Testament). A bonus disc features Pinkas delivering an insightful and warmly communicative talk about these works, with appropriate musical demonstrations. Highly recommended.--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com