Gabriel Fauré, Quatuor Arod, Iron and Wine, iZem

2023-11-24 18:00:12

Nocturnes & Barcarolles

The Thirteen Nocturnes. The Thirteen Barcarolles. Dolly. With Marc-André Hamelin and Cathy Fuller (piano)

Complete “Nocturnes & Barcarolles”, by Gabriel Fauré, by pianist Marc-André Hamelin. HYPERION RECORDS

The great Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin stands out as a master in the two major cycles composed by Gabriel Fauré, whose death centenary will be celebrated in 2024. From ardent lyricism, imbued with romanticism, from youth to the spare, even austere sobriety of late pieces, Hamelin follows the trajectory of a work spanning a lifetime, combining virtuoso delicacy and polyphonic clarity in a colorful play of great expressiveness. Imbued with passion and ardor, the first Nocturnes, still close to the style of Camille Saint-Saëns, who was his teacher, will become more varied on the harmonic level, before gradually reaching obscurity, between asceticism and resignation. THE Barcarolles – with their lulling rhythm derived from the song of the gondoliers – they also evolve with the flow of water and time, between sooty visions and glimmers of hope. Unlike those who so often wrap it in the pseudo-poetic naphthalene of modality, Marc-André Hamelin encourages moods, sharpens angles and roughness, giving the composer flesh and heartbeat. It is with his wife, pianist Cathy Fuller, that the pianist will perform “with family” Dollythe charming four-handed suite written by Fauré for the daughter of Emma Bardac, the future Madame Debussy. Marie-Aude Roux

Hyperion Records.

Debussy – Ravel – Attahir

Works by Claude Debussy, Benjamin Attahir and Maurice Ravel by the Arod Quartet.

Pochette de l’album “Debussy – Ravel – Attahir”, du Quatuor Arod. ERATO/WARNER CLASSICS

Appearing very early on the contemporary scene, Benjamin Attahir (34 years old) has long since passed the stage of promises, as evidenced by Al Asr, which first compares the string quartet to a loom, whose production, in no way mechanical, results in textures of great beauty. Change of dive, then, with an activity which evokes that of a swarm of bees. By turns silky and incisive, Attahir’s vaguely oriental carpet has a very gripping spiritual dimension. The Arods display a similar commitment, sometimes fiery, sometimes subtle, in the service of Maurice Ravel, whose String Quartet benefits here from a new critical edition. Performed at the beginning, that of Claude Debussy, on the other hand, appears as an intruder, through its polite interpretation, in a predominantly plastic program. The Arod Quartet: menage a quatrea film by documentary filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon offered as a bonus DVD, allows us to understand the challenges of such training. « The quartet is an animal that transforms every day”, y declares Jérémy Garbarg, the latest arrival. The “animal”, which celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2023, has indeed changed a lot since its birth, since neither Garbarg, the cellist, nor the current violist, Tanguy Parisot, were there in 2017, during the creation ofAl Asr ; which does not seem to have harmed the world premiere recording of Attahir’s magnificent opus. Pierre Gervasoni

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