Valerie Milot, Stephane Tetrault and Antoine Bareil, three young and well established musicians, are collaborating for the first time to carry out a major recording project. Focused primarily on French music from the first half of the 20th century, this release reveals the subtle blend of sonorities formed by the harp, cello, and violin through the major works by Jacques Ibert and Henriette Renie. The trio also performs a dazzling, encore-worthy Passacaglia for violin and cello by Handel/Halvorsen and a sweet, introspective finale in the form of a transcription of a Schubert lied.

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REVIEWS:

Focused primarily on French music from the first half of the 20th century, this album reveals the subtle blend of sonorities formed by the harp, cello, and violin through the trios of Jacques Ibert and Henriette Renié. The exploration of this period continues with Danse des lutins, an acrobatic work for harp by Renié. Violinist Antoine Bareil and Cellist Stéphane Tétreault then perform the dazzling Passacaglia by Handel/Halvorsen, before harpist Valérie Milot re-joins the trio for a sweet, introspective finale in the form of a Schubert lied arranged for these forces.

– WFMT 98.7FM (Chicago, IL)

The Ibert trio, beautifully crafted, entertaining, light but not superficial, is an equally apt description of the ensemble itself. Written during wartime, it features an ethereal opening Allegro, a quite beautiful Andante and rather unusually, a Scherzo(ando) to finish, which is motoric and virtuosic.

The work for trio by the little-known Henriette Renié is a most pleasant surprise; it's well sustained in its invention, with considerable passion and drama considering the lack of presence of a piano. It is undeniably French, but it has an unexpected Germanic strength to it.

– MusicWeb International