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Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 - Franck, Fauré & Poulenc
Bruno Philippe
Chamber Music - Released November 10, 2023 | harmonia mundi
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Gramophone: Recording of the Month
Of the various young cellists contending for the crown these days, Bruno Philippe is among the strongest, with a highly varied palette of tone production. He applies the full power of the instrument sparingly, keeping a light touch in lyrical sections and making details clear even at the growling bottom of the instrument's range. The large pieces here are perhaps of varying quality, but they serve Philippe well. The Violin Sonata in A major of César Franck was transcribed for cello with the composer's approval, but it is a different work lower down, losing the soaring quality of the finale's melodies. Still, it fits Philippe's way with a tune nicely, and he applies a good deal of tempo rubato in a way that holds the interest. Philippe keeps the cello lines clear in Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33 (the mix of cello-and-piano works with a cello concerto is entirely characteristic of what might have been offered in these composers' own era), featuring the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. Francis Poulenc's Cello Sonata was sketched out by the composer in 1940, laid aside, and completed only reluctantly in 1948. The composer disparaged it, and no one would pick it as top-grade Poulenc, but for all that, it has a remarkable Cavatine slow movement that displays Philippe's lyrical gifts to the hilt. Serving as intermezzi among these works are short pieces by Fauré, and these, too, show Philippe as the possessor of a remarkable cantabile. Philippe is ably accompanied by the veteran pianist Tanguy de Williencourt; they make an effective pair, with the pianist's restrained style seeming to keep the young Philippe within bounds. Harmonia Mundi contributes idiomatic chamber music sound from the Hessische Rundfunk studios in Frankfurt on an album that will appeal to any lover of French chamber music.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Fauré : Requiem, Cantique de Jean Racine, Super flumina Babylonis
Philippe Jaroussky
Classical - Released September 5, 2011 | Warner Classics
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Booklet
Paavo Järvi's recording of the Fauré Requiem is notable for its balance of a sumptuous orchestral and choral sound with a chaste and dignified interpretation of the score. The strings of Orchestre de Paris in particular sound gorgeous, and Choeur de l'Orchestre de Paris sings with marvelous dynamic variety; in the opening movement, the chorus seems to emerge gradually out of near-silence, yet the group can produce a terrifyingly large sound in the Libera me. Counter tenor Philippe Jaroussky and baritone Matthias Goerne are outstanding in the solo movements, investing the meditative music with deep feeling. The Pie Jesu is sometimes sung by a woman and sometimes by a boy soprano, and Jaroussky's performance has some elements of both: the purity of a boy's voice but with the musical maturity of an adult singer. The album is generously filled out with four other choral or orchestral pieces. The lovely Cantique de Jean Racine and Pavane for orchestra and mixed choir are frequently paired with the Requiem. Elégie for cello and orchestra, premiered by Pablo Casals, and played with elegance here by Eric Picard, fits beautifully with the contemplative tone of the album. Super flumina Babylonis for mixed choir and orchestra is a student work, recorded here for the first time. It's more overtly emotional than the other repertoire on the album, as is appropriate for the text, and may lack the subtlety of the later pieces, but it's an attractive, skillfully crafted work that stands on its own merits and deserves broader exposure. The sound of the live recording is exceptionally warm and resonant, yet still detailed.© TiVo
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Ravel: L'Œuvre pour piano
Philippe Bianconi
Solo Piano - Released September 15, 2023 | La Dolce Volta
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Ravel's piano works include some of the most popular keyboard pieces of the 20th century, so pianist Philippe Bianconi has plenty of competition for this double-album complete cycle. Of course, one advantage of the complete set is that it can include the less common pieces like Ravel's musical impressions of Borodin and Chabrier and the Menuet en Ut dièse mineur ("Minuet in C sharp minor"). These lesser-known works, mostly miniatures, fit Bianconi's style beautifully; he is a precise, concise player who brings out Ravel's considerable rhythmic subtlety. His Ravel performances tap into a long French tradition stretching back to Robert Casadesus and his wife, Gaby, who was one of Bianconi's teachers. Imbued with the French conservatory values of clarity and restraint, Bianconi sacrifices mood for clean execution. In Le Tombeau de Couperin, he is wonderful, one of the very best available, catching the ways Ravel stretches the Baroque rhythms in a really uncanny way. Many pianists can handle the technical challenges of Gaspard de la nuit these days, but few can seem as effortless while doing so. In music that depends more on extramusical references, such as the four-hand Ma mère l'Oye (recorded with Clément Lefebvre), some listeners may want a bit more color, while others will find Bianconi's approach bracing and fresh, with an evocative Miroirs. Sample several different works. Most listeners will agree that the La Dolce Volta label's sound, from the Grande Salle at the Metz Arsenal, is ideal for the music and the music-making here.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Buxtehude : Membra Jesu Nostri
Philippe Pierlot
Sacred Oratorios - Released March 22, 2019 | Mirare
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5 de Diapason -
Gramophone Editor's Choice
Composed by Dietrich Buxtehude in 1680 for the church of Lübeck, where he had been working for ten years, Membra Jesu Nostri describes the scars of the Passion of Christ through a cycle of seven cantatas. The work owes its title to a Latin manuscript written by a relative of Saint Bernard. Typical of the pietism of 17th century Lutheran Germany, the piece is a descent into the darkness of suffering and an ode to the promise of consolation. Grounded in rhetoric, Buxtehude’s music influenced a generation of innovative musicians. It would later be an inspiration to Johann Sebastian Bach, who traveled to Lübeck specifically to meet Buxtehude. Membra Jesus Nostri was written for a five-voice ensemble. It requires a set of soloists with three lower voices and two upper parts, as well as a subtle instrumental accompaniment featuring two violins, five viols, and one basso continuo chose by the musicians. Some authors have seen the influence of the “Versailles Motet,” which Buxtehude knew well, in this setup. The influence of Italian music, especially Monteverdi, which he may have known through his interest in Schütz’s music, is also clear. The work is the testimony to Buxtehude’s incredibly expressive power and deserves to be considered as a masterpiece among other spiritual compositions such as Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien, Bach’s Passions and, on an instrumental level, Biber’s Sonates du Rosaire.According to Philippe Pierlot, who can be heard on the record, “Buxtehude is appealing directly to our senses and making us experience the suffering of Christ. We can feel the wounds, the blows, and the heart when it ceases to beat. Thanks to the genius of his music, the composer not only moves his listener to intense emotion, but also enlightens him, giving him access to the deep meaning of the text it sings” © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Ichmouratov: Piano Concerto, Viola Concerto No. 1
Jean-Philippe Sylvestre
Symphonies - Released June 16, 2023 | Chandos
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The music of Airat Ichmouratov is becoming increasingly popular, and here, he hits the big time with a recording on the major Chandos label, one which hit classical best-seller charts in the summer of 2023. He is also a klezmer clarinetist, but none of these varied strands of his background shows up much in this pair of concertos, one for viola (he wrote it for the doctoral recital of the violinist here, Elvira Misbachova, and romance flowered), and one, later, for piano. Instead, the music is late Romantic in style. What sets Ichmouratov apart from his sizable group of competitors in this area is a strongly evocative, cinematic quality to his music. He has apparently never written film scores, and there is no evidence that he knows the works of John Williams and the like, but it is an occupation he might try sometime. Sample the calm string serenade of the slow movement, evocative of the resolution of a long conflict, with the piano entering after a considerable time in a high range at a clockwork pace, unfolding what sounds like a distant memory that gathers intensity as the movement proceeds. Much of the music is episodic in the manner of a film score; the Viola Concerto is a bit more oriented toward traditional concerto form, but the soloist is given a great variety of utterances. Chandos' sound from LSO St. Luke's is a bit remote and tends to swallow up pianist Jean-Philippe Sylvestre, but both soloists are sympathetic to the music. Listeners who favor neo-Romantic styles may not be familiar with Ichmouratov, but it seems a good bet that they will be hearing his name frequently going forward.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Il Boemo (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Philippe Jaroussky
Cinema Music - Released June 23, 2023 | Warner Classics
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Il Boemo ("The Bohemian") was composer Josef Mysliveček, who was close to the Mozart family. This Czech film appears to be based partly on unsubstantiated gossip included in the Mozart family correspondence, but Mysliveček had a pretty interesting life, even leaving hypothetical romantic intrigue aside; he worked for some years as a miller before turning to composition and, like Mozart in his later years, he was a pure freelancer. His nose was destroyed in a botched surgical effort to alleviate his syphilis symptoms. The film is a project of director Petr Vaclav and Collegium 1704 conductor Václav Luks, and it is partly aimed at raising the profile of Mysliveček, which remains low, at least outside Czech-lands. Mysliveček wrote 26 operas, 55 symphonies, and numerous other works, and Mozart admired him. Mysliveček's symphonies have been recorded from time to time, but his all-important operatic output, all of it in Italian and in the opera seria form, has not, and therein lies the substantial general interest of this recording. Among the operas is an "Adamo ed Eva." Many of the arias here sound a good deal like Mozart, with the uncanny simplicity Mozart so often had, rather than the big, ornate sound of the usual opera seria. Then, one realizes that he was doing this before Mozart learned to sound like himself (Mysliveček died in 1781). Sample the aria "Il caro mio bene" from the 1780 opera Armida (which failed and sank Mysliveček's previously soaring fortunes). Luks assembles a fine group of mostly Eastern European singers, of whom Simona Šaturová in this aria is a representative example; the veteran countertenor Philippe Jaroussky also makes multiple appearances. Under Luks, Collegium 1704 manages an idiomatically sweet Classical-era sound, something that still eludes many groups specializing in the Baroque. Essential for Mozart enthusiasts, this release is enjoyable listening for anyone and may well contribute to the filmmakers' goals; one hopes that the film achieves wide distribution so that album listeners can hear the arias in place.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Bach : Christmas Cantatas BWV 110, 151, 63
Philippe Pierlot
Cantatas (sacred) - Released November 18, 2013 | Mirare
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5 de Diapason
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Forgotten Arias
Philippe Jaroussky
Classical - Released October 27, 2023 | Warner Classics
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One attraction of this release, which made classical best-seller charts in the autumn of 2023, is that it lives up to its title; the music is generally obscure, and it is well worthy of revival. It might be called "Unjustly Forgotten Arias." These are countertenor, originally castrato arias from the late Baroque period (or early Classical, depending on how one looks at it), composed between 1748 and 1770. Texts are by Pietro Metastasio, the greatest librettist of the age, and there are several instances in which multiple composers set the same one. So the album is of interest to serious students of the period. For the general listener, though, the attraction is the voice of countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, which is in fine form. One might even argue that this material fits his now middle-aged instrument perfectly. There are some fiery runs of the type that made him famous, but these are, for the most part, arias in which sheer passagework is beginning to break up into more variegated melodic expression. They are quite virtuosic, but this is not always a question of runs of 16th notes. Instead, there are big leaps of an octave (or even two), and the composers force the singer down into a lower register, even down to low C; Jaroussky's low notes are rich and tough. Some of the pieces are melodically quite attractive; try "Per quel paterno amplesso" from Johann Christian Bach's Artaserse, probably the most famous opera libretto of the time and one in which composers strove to outdo each other. Jaroussky gets excellent support from Le Concert de la Loge under conductor Julien Chauvin on an album that makes an especially strong entry in Jaroussky's distinguished catalog.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Bach : Johannes-Passion, BWV 245
Philippe Herreweghe
Classical - Released February 7, 2020 | Phi
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Bach’s St. John Passion, with its famous opening chorus traversed by shadows and light, is a powerful musical and spiritual reflection. Dramatic, grandiose, complex, resolutely theatrical: there has been no lack of superlatives to describe this supreme masterpiece of western music. Philippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent present an accomplished reading that reflects their knowledge of the composer, based on extensive research and deepened by countless concerts. Soloists Krešimir Stražanac and Maximilian Schmitt demonstrate the breadth of their talents in the roles of Jesus and the Evangelist. © Phi
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Pergolesi : Stabat Mater - Laudate pueri - Confitebor
Philippe Jaroussky
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released November 1, 2013 | Warner Classics International
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Bach & Telemann : Sacred Cantatas
Philippe Jaroussky
Classical - Released October 7, 2016 | Erato - Warner Classics
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5 de Diapason
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TANGO y TANGO
Philippe Cohen Solal
Dance - Released May 5, 2023 | Ya Basta! records
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Bach: Advent Cantatas
Philippe Herreweghe
Classical - Released August 1, 1997 | harmonia mundi
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Fauré : Requiem, Op. 48 (version 1893)
Philippe Herreweghe
Masses, Passions, Requiems - Released July 31, 2007 | harmonia mundi
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Fervent
Arnault Cuisinier
Contemporary Jazz - Released March 2, 2010 | Laborie Jazz
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Choc Jazzman
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J. S. Bach : Magnificat
Philippe Pierlot
Masses, Passions, Requiems - Released November 5, 2009 | Mirare
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Philippe Pierlot and the Ricercar Consort's 2006 recording of Bach's Magnificat brings back the glory days of historically informed performances, those halcyon days in the 1980s when musicians, empowered by scholarship and energized by virtuosity, were recording the Baroque repertoire with the zeal of the newly converted. Though Pierlot and his musicians are of a younger generation, they bring a missionary fervor to the music, a program of Bach's Magnificat, BWV 243, and Missa Brevis, BWV 235, interspersed with two well-chosen organ works, the Fuga sopra il Magnificat, BWV 733, and the Präludium und Fuga, BWV 541. Pierlot's textures are clean, his rhythms buoyant, his colors bright, and tempos brisk, but not rushed in the fast movements, and contemplative but not moribund in the slow movements. The Ricercar Consort plays with technical brilliance and manifest enthusiasm as an ensemble, and the violin and flute soloists deliver sparkling performances. But perhaps the best thing is the five vocal soloists and given that they also serve as the choir, their performances are even more remarkable. With clarion tones, gracious technique, and an effortless blend, they comport themselves with the ease and luster of the best jazz vocal groups, and the spirit they bring to their parts is infectious. Francis Jacob delivers forceful yet effervescent readings of the two organ works. Mirare's digital sound is as clear and as real as a blue sky.
© TiVo
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Bach : Leipzig Cantatas BWV 101, 103 & 115
Philippe Herreweghe
Cantatas (sacred) - Released September 1, 2017 | Phi
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5 de Diapason -
5 étoiles de Classica
For the third time on the Phi label, Philippe Herreweghe gives us the opportunity to (re)discover three cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach – Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott, BWV 101, Ihr werdet weinen und heulen, BWV 103 and Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit, BWV 115. After two albums of cantatas written during the composer’s first year in Leipzig, the Belgian conductor and his Collegium Vocale Gent, orchestra and choir, will be performing three cantatas he composed during his second year as Kantor at St Thomas’s. The choir and vocal soloists are once again challenged to produce performances of subtlety and refined virtuosity, and the instrumentarium is as rich and colourful as those heard previously in this series. © Phi
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Bach: Oster-Oratorium, BWV 249
Philippe Herreweghe
Classical - Released February 1, 1995 | harmonia mundi
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Joseph Haydn : Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons / Les Saisons)
Philippe Herreweghe
Secular Vocal Music - Released April 8, 2014 | Phi
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Booklet
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5 de Diapason -
Gramophone Editor's Choice -
Choc de Classica
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