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| Suites and Sonatas – two worlds apart |
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| Thursday, 17 April 2008 | |
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Hot off the press are two infectious and totally different CDs. Each explores an unusual and rarely-heard repertoire: two worlds apart, they inhabit the same artistic ambiance. What’s more they are played superbly well by two supremely gifted young French musicians with a love for the music. Paul Dukas is not a household name, unlike Ravel through his timeless ‘Boléro’ and Debussy through his highly imaginative, Impressionist-inspired piano pieces. But Walt Disney discovered Dukas’s tone poem, ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’, back in 1940 and used it to great effect in ‘Fantasia’. Today the recording company, Calliope, has just issued the collected piano works of Paul Dukas (1865-1935), neatly and imaginatively played by Olivier Chauzu: a young pianist who’s equally at home with the works of Dukas’s Spanish contemporary, Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909).   The CD opens with a set of variations on a theme of Rameau, an artist much admired by Dukas. This is followed by the 1901 piano sonata, considered to be one of the finest of all French piano works. Equally affecting are ‘La plainte, au loin du faune’ and the ‘Prélude élégiaque sur le nom de Haydn’, two short pieces completing this admirably-compiled disc. With only four piano works to his name, Dukas has remained in the twilight for far too long. If Paul Dukas doesn’t quite hit the household name charts, then try the Forqueray family: a late French Baroque father and son team. The father, Antoine, was a contemporary of Dukas’ idol, Rameau (1683 1764) a gifted viola da gamba player who, at the age of five, played to Louis XIV. The son, Jean-Baptiste, transcribed his father’s suites (originally composed for viola da gamba) in 1747. Bring in the excellent instrument made by Anthony Sidey, modelled on a Ruckers-Hemsch harpsichord of Forqueray’s time, and the French harpsichordist and musicologist, Blandine Rannou, who’s been passionate about Forqueray since 2001, and you’ve got a perfect mix. Out since March 13, Rannou’s latest release on Zig-Zag Territoires, is the culmination of years of study of this quintessentially French baroque composer.   With enticing names such as ‘La Boisson’, ‘Jupiter’, ‘La Morangis ou La Plissay’ and ‘Le Carillon de Passy’, the six suites, recorded on two CDs, are presented in an impressive light and made all the more effective by Rannou’s mastery. Both CDs come complete with texts in French and English and, for lovers of the unusual, they make an intriguing addition to an already adventurous library. Paul Dukas: Intégrale de l’oeuvre pour piano. Olivier Chauzu, piano. Calliope 9388, www.calliope.tm.fr Antoine Forqueray: Works for viola da gamba transcribed for harpsichord Blandine Rannou, harpsichord. Zig-Zag Territoires ZZT080301.2 www.zigzag-territoires.com Concert diary dates Olivier Chauzu, FNAC de Ternes (Paris), 24/04 at 5.30pm Blandine Rannou, Festival Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo, 04/04. Time to be arranged. Contact Florence Petros 06 86 41 74 73 |
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