Yvonne Lefébure plays Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Ravel, & Chopin

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Label
Profil
Release Date
November 5, 2021
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      VARIOUS
    • PERFORMER
      Lefebure, Berliner Philharmoniker
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      November 05, 2021
    • UPC
      881488210415
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      PH21041
    • LABEL
      Profil
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      5
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli in C Major, Op. 120, "Diabelli Variations"

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    2. I. Vivace ma non troppo

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    3. II. Prestissimo

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    4. III. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung: Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    5. I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    6. II. Allegro molto

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    7. III. Adagio ma non troppo - Fuga: Allegro ma non troppo

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    8. I. Adagio - II. Allegro

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Performer: Jeanne Gautier, Yvonne Lefébure

    9. III. Theme and Variations: Andantino cantabile

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Performer: Jeanne Gautier, Yvonne Lefébure

    10. Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13, "Pathétique": I. Grave - Allegro di molto e con brio

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    11. I. Maestoso - Allegro con brio ed appassionato

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    12. II. Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile

      Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    13. I. Allegro

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Berliner Philharmoniker

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

      Conductor: Wilhelm Furtwängler

    14. II. Romance

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Berliner Philharmoniker

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

      Conductor: Wilhelm Furtwängler

    15. III. Rondo: Allegro assai (cadenza by Fred Goldbeck)

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Berliner Philharmoniker

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

      Conductor: Wilhelm Furtwängler

    16. I. Allegro

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Fernand Oubradous Chamber Orchestra

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

      Conductor: Fernand Oubradous

    17. II. Adagio

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Fernand Oubradous Chamber Orchestra

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

      Conductor: Fernand Oubradous

    18. III. Allegro

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Ensemble: Fernand Oubradous Chamber Orchestra

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

      Conductor: Fernand Oubradous

    19. Prelude

      Composer: Franz Liszt

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    20. Fugue

      Composer: Franz Liszt

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    21. Das Orgelbüchlein, BWV 599-644: Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639 (arr. F. Busoni for piano)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    22. Fantasy

      Composer: Franz Liszt

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    23. Fugue

      Composer: Franz Liszt

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    24. Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147: Chorale: Jesus bleibet meine Freude (Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring) (arr. M. Hess for piano)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    25. Prelude and Fugue No. 8 in E-Flat Minor, BWV 853

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    26. I. Allegretto

      Composer: Maurice Ravel

      Performer: Jeanne Gautier, Yvonne Lefébure

    27. II. Blues: Moderato

      Composer: Maurice Ravel

      Performer: Jeanne Gautier, Yvonne Lefébure

    28. III. Perpetuum mobile: Allegro

      Composer: Maurice Ravel

      Performer: Jeanne Gautier, Yvonne Lefébure

    29. Variations, Interlude et Finale sur un theme de Rameau

      Composer: Paul Dukas

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    30. Prelude: Le sommeil de la boite (The Toy-box Asleep)

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    31. Tableau 1: Les jouets se réveillent

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    32. Tableau 1: Pas de d'éléphant

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    33. Tableau 1: Danse de l'arlequin

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    34. Tableau 1: Le soldat anglais

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    35. Tableau 1: Polichinelle

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    36. Tableau 1: Le nègre et le policemen

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    37. Tableau 1: Valse de la poupée

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    38. Tableau 1: Ronde générale

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    39. Tableau 2: Une grand plain verte

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    40. Tableau 2: Entrée des soldats

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    41. Tableau 2: Nuit. Lune

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    42. Tableau 3: Un paysage désolé

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    43. Tableau 3: Un air de vielle

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    44. Tableau 3: Changemant à vue

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    45. Tableau 3: Épilogue

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Pierre Bertin, Yvonne Lefébure

    46. No. 1. Allegro con brio

      Composer: Albert Roussel

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    47. No. 2. Allegro grazioso (Tempo di valz)

      Composer: Albert Roussel

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    48. No. 3. Allegro con spirito - Andante

      Composer: Albert Roussel

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    49. Mazurka No. 13 in A Minor, Op. 17, No. 4

      Composer: Frédéric Chopin

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

    50. I. Allegro affettuoso

      Composer: Robert Schumann

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de l'RTF

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

      Conductor: Pierre Dervaux

    51. II. Intermezzo: Andantino grazioso

      Composer: Robert Schumann

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de l'RTF

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

      Conductor: Pierre Dervaux

    52. III. Allegro vivace

      Composer: Robert Schumann

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de l'RTF

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

      Conductor: Pierre Dervaux

    53. I. Allegro

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Orchestre Radio Symphonique de la RTF

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

      Conductor: Pierre Dervaux

    54. II. Romance

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Orchestre Radio Symphonique de la RTF

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

      Conductor: Pierre Dervaux

    55. III. Rondo: Allegro assai

      Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Ensemble: Orchestre Radio Symphonique de la RTF

      Performer: Yvonne Lefébure

      Conductor: Pierre Dervaux


Yvonne Lefébure (1900-1986) was one of the most important French pianists and piano teachers of the 20th century. From a very young age she demonstrated real musical talent. When she was only 6 years old she studied the piano with Marguerite Long (1874-1966), initially in a private school, known as the Conservatoire Femina-Musica, then in Marguerite Long’s preparatory classes for the Conservatory. Yvonne Lefébure gave her first recital aged 12. Her earliest concert performances contained demanding works such as the B minor Piano Sonata by Franz Liszt or Robert Schumann’s Etudes symphoniques. Ultimately this gifted pianist took lessons with Alfred Cortot (1877-1962), one of the most important and indeed most influential personalities of musical life in the 20th century. Her most important studies with Cortot took place in his conservatory classes for advanced students, a group she joined in 1911 and from which she was awarded a first prize in 1912. Yvonne Lefébure had further private lessons with Cortot particularly in the period 1919-1939, when she was one of the most important teachers at the Ecole Normale de Musique. Later she went on to lead a masterclass at the Ecole Normale de Musique. From 1952 to 1967 she was Professor at the Paris Conservatory. Yvonne Lefébure was an outstanding soloist, chamber musician and concert solo artiste: by listening to this album listeners can get an impression of her talent for themselves.

REVIEW:

Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations and Sonatas 30-31 were recorded 1955-56 in decent monaural sound. The Diabelli is a fine, forceful reading in one long band (each variation is not tracked). The sonatas are beautifully rendered and show a pianist of discriminating taste and maturity. They also show Lefebure to possess a technical mastery that places her at the forefront among artists of her generation.

Mozart’s Violin Sonata in G with violinist Jeanne Gautier, and Beethoven’s Sonata 32 and Sonata 8 are decent enough, though no reason is given why we are left with only the first movement of the Pathetique Sonata.

The Mozart Piano Concerto 20 with the Berlin Philharmonic under Furtwangler is a pleasant surprise, though the strings are a bit glassy. Bach’s Piano Concerto in D minor along with some organ pieces transcribed by Liszt is the heart of disc 3. The concerto is effectively conducted by Fernand Oubradous, and Lefebure performs with depth and soul. The Liszt transcription of the Fugue in A minor S 543 is especially impressive.

Music by French composers constitutes the bulk of disc 4. Ravel’s Violin Sonata in G with Jeanne Gautier is handled with delicacy and humor, and Debussy’s rarely heard ballet Box of Toys allows Lefebure to handle the subtleties of the narrative with a special joy (it is heard here with French narration). The Dukas Rameau Variations and Roussel Three Pieces, Op. 49, are treasures of French insouciance coupled with elegance.

Very non-French is the single Chopin Mazurka that closes the disc. Pierre Dervaux gets off to a somewhat clumsy start with the French Radio Orchestra in Schumann’s Piano Concerto but rapidly improves to a stunningly warm and rapturous traversal. Mozart’s Concerto 20 contrasts most positively with Furtwängler’s glassy-sounding Berlin account.

-- American Record Guide