Bartók's three piano concertos, unlike his string quartets, are not evenly distributed across his career; the first two come from the period of his thorniest music in the 1920s and early '30s, while the Piano Concerto No. 3 in E major was one of the last things he wrote in 1945 and was left with its final detail unfinished. The Piano Concerto No. 1 in A major and especially the Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major are perilously difficult. Most difficult works are now easily within the capabilities of well-drilled conservatory graduates, but not this one; András Schiff said that when he plays it, he leaves blood on the keyboard. Here, the pianist is Pierre-Laurent Aimard, a contemporary music specialist not known for virtuoso music. However, he was a student of Yvonne Loriod, who gave one of the earliest performances of the Piano Concerto No. 2, and he may have picked up a few tricks. It may be the general approach that he learned from Loriod; instead of letting the work turn into a finger-buster, he adopts a somewhat gentler approach. That may not seem what is desired in a true virtuoso Hungarian work (which Bartók wrote for himself to play), but it allows room for the expansive detail work that conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony bring to the music. Listen to the first movement of the Piano Concerto No. 2, which has an impressive smoothness and confidence. In fact, it is only in the Piano Concerto No. 3, written in Bartók's broader and more tuneful late style, that Aimard disappoints somewhat. However, this album is well worth hearing; it represents a fresh take on some difficult repertory standards.© James Manheim /TiVo

The music by Pierre Sancan on this album is all but unknown, even in France, and it may seem quite a surprise, even with the star power of the popular pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, that it turned up on classical best-seller lists in the spring of 2023. The only possible explanation is that the music is a total delight. Sancan was a teacher of Bavouzet, among others, as well as a pianist; even the booklet here offers the disclaimer that he was born too late and wrote neoclassic music in the middle of the 20th century. It would be nice if the discourse could get away from this idea, the notion of inevitable progress being quaintly Victorian by now. In any event, the music is lively and light in spirit. Those who enjoy the similarly underrated Jean Françaix will love Sancan, but the most remarkable feature is that Sancan wrote truly virtuosic music. It is very French, not keyboard-banging virtuoso music in the Russian sense, but its technical demands are considerable. There is a fine piano concerto and some short piano pieces (hear the two-minute Boîte à musique), but the real highlight is the three-movement Sonatine for flute and piano, where the two instruments interlock in difficult skittering figures. Bavouzet surely knows this music better than anyone else, and his performance here with flutist Adam Walker is wholly compelling. This is a unique document, a wonderful window into a French tradition too often dismissed as academic.© James Manheim /TiVo

The new album from Pierre Hantaï, who is momentarily moving away from his dear Scarlatti, is a veritable gem! The French harpsichordist opens this masterful recital recorded in January 2020 in Haarlem (Netherlands) by Nicolas Bartholomée's team and dedicated to four suites by Georg Friedrich Haendel through one of the least known, HWV 426, the first issue of Book I of 1720. Immediately, his fingers immerse this eclectic, cosmopolitan world, where neighbouring Italy and France collide seamlessly, in a resplendent sunshine. Once again, the phrasing dazzles as much as the science that the worthy heir of Gustav Leonhardt displays in grasping the diversity of character as he does in painting landscapes in changing light.Here, the Suite in F major, HWV 427 is a miracle. It is a moving, opening Adagio, with an unheard-of melancholy fullness, in which the "art of touching the harpsichord", of singing, of making polyphony shine, is carried high. So much so that the perpetual movement of the Allegro that follows may initially startle you, Pierre Hantaï's metrical regularity is astonishing, even in the more ornate repeats. However, the lines never seem tight, which makes you look at the choreography, undoubtedly reproducing the outlines of an imaginary Gavotte: an unforgettable sensation! The second Adagio is a sort of prelude, before a bugle fugue, not so distant here from the most joyful fugues of J. S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.The focus of the recital is the spacious and rather sombre Suite in D minor, HWV 428; at first the traditional Präludium, Allemande, Courante, then suddenly, a long Air whose theme is tenderly unfolded, morphing into a strange world of "harmonic" ramblings, as if improvised, launched like rockets by the harpsichordist - a work in its own right!On all levels, an enthralling recital, to be treasured, which will give many people the opportunity to enjoy Handel's Harpsichord Suites once again. © Pierre-Yves Lascar/Qobuz

Can the title of a work influence the way that performers approach it? At any rate, Messiaen's two great piano masterpieces have titles which suggest very different musical experiences. Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus (1944) is steeped in religious fervour and contemplation, while Catalogue d’oiseaux (1956–1958) is a work with rather more of an ornithological bent. Indeed, the composer himself said to Claude Samuel: "I tried to render exactly the song of a bird typical of a given region, surrounded by its neighbours in that habitat, as well as expressions of its song at different times of day and night." But then he goes on to describe a more expressive and poetic side of the work. Birdsong, effectively, "bears in its harmonic and rhythmic material the scents and colours of the country in which the bird lives", and it is hardly possible to "exactly" transcribe the improbable rapidity of birdsong for any human instrument. One might have thought that "sonic reproduction" was the key idea behind the Catalogue d'oiseaux, but in the finished work, what we are listening to is a great composer, a master of innovative structures, finding a stunning range of piano sounds. In other words, in spite of its name, the Catalogue d’oiseaux is not a musical documentary, but rather a series of musical poems exploring birds and other wonders of nature – in France, as that is where all these delightful flying things happened to be found. Pierre-Laurent Aimard gives a reading of the (diabolical) score which is both super-precise and rigorous, and yet so poetic and inspired that one has the impression that he is taking dictation directly from the birds themselves. © SM/Qobuz

Davis's second recording since ending his six-year retirement was one of his best of the 1980s. Unlike his bands from the 1970s, this particular unit leaves plenty of space and plays much more melodically. Guitarist Mike Stern lets loose some fury, but electric bassist Marcus Miller is not reluctant to walk now and then in a straight-ahead fashion, drummer Al Foster and percussionist Mino Cinelu are tasteful, and Bill Evans gets in a few good spots on soprano. As for Davis, he was gradually regaining his earlier form. This double LP is highlighted by "Back Seat Betty," a side-long investigation of "My Man's Gone Now" and two versions of Davis's childlike "Jean Pierre."© Scott Yanow /TiVo

Since setting off in the early 2000s, Pierre Hantaï is still journeying into Domenico Scarlatti’s world. After a hiatus of more than ten years following the third volume, the harpsichordist finally recorded a fourth volume in 2016 and this autumn sees the sixth one come into bloom, once again superbly recorded in Haarlem in the Netherlands by Nicolas Bartholomée. Pierre Hantaï is taking his time to gradually construct a perfect anthology of Scarlatti’s keyboard work. Here, he explores some of his little-known sonatas. His keyboard intensifies the profound rhythmic force of Scarlatti’s world: the sharp lines burst forth, the harmonic tension constantly explodes, the new tones are revealed smoothly, and his playing – with an exhilarating left hand – is stunning throughout. The first five sonatas of this new release (all of which have a fairly fast tempo) form a representative ensemble of a rather uncompromising Scarlatti, followed by a moment of gravity and meditation with the exquisite Sonata in F minor, K. 69, while the surrounding Sonatas K. 502 and K. 43 (with a wonderfully volatile left hand) have clearly marked rhythms. The style and atmosphere changes with Sonata in C major, K. 384, whose tender “French” tone is emphasised by Pierre Hantaï, and at the same time there’s an almost modern feel which goes beyond even Soler’s most audacious scores. Fascinating! While the tender sonatas (K. 550, K. 544) distil an aftertaste that is slightly more spicy than the previous volumes, what continues to surprise us with Hantaï in this repertoire is his prolonged search for a “Hispanic” feel - a Spain in a majestic trance, with colliding rhythms and contrasting accents and registers. Let’s hope that Pierre Hantaï does not wait another ten years to deliver the seventh volume; there is no doubt that these Scarlatti recordings will remain one of the most exciting and necessary musical adventures of the 21st century. A perfectly captured sound, style and universe. © Pierre-Yves Lascar/Qobuz

François Couperin's Concerts Royaux were keyboard dance suites from 1714, preceding those of the set known as Les Goûts Réunis. Couperin wrote them for a single keyboard but noted that they could also be performed by a small ensemble, and the many available recordings of the pieces have availed themselves of both options. This one by Pierre Gallon and Matthieu Boutineau, however, is unique; it is for two harpsichords, with a few continuo additions from theorbo and Baroque guitar. The suites are presented as versions for two harpsichords; these are not credited to anyone but have been created by the performers. The reasoning for this, as presented in the booklet, draws from the ideas that Couperin, even if he did not suggest this option, clearly imagined the instrumentation as flexible, that Couperin did suggest a two-harpsichord option for the Apothéoses for chamber ensemble, and that harpsichord works by the composer Gaspard Le Roux were said by the composer to be playable on two harpsichords. These factors do not quite prove the point being made by the performance, and this recording might better be regarded as an elaboration on Couperin's music. In some pieces, the two players each perform the bass line, distributing the rest of the music between them, and this creates a rich, monumental sound that differs quite a bit from the usual intimate detail one associates with Couperin. The effect is intensified by Harmonia Mundi's booming church sound environment, which doesn't correspond with what Couperin imagined, either. It is true that those who want the versions Couperin himself approved have plenty of major recordings to choose from, and this one is genuinely novel. The bottom line is that a bit of sampling will inform listeners as to whether they find the approach convincing or not.© James Manheim /TiVo

For this double album, pianist Alexandre Tharaud invited a spectacular array of guest performers to join him in paying tribute to the great French singer-songwriter known simply as Barbara. One of the icons of the poetic chanson française, Barbara shares a place of honour with two other ‘B’s’, Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens. Among her most celebrated songs are ‘Ma plus belle histoire d'amour’, ‘Göttingen’, ‘Dis, quand reviendras-tu?’, ‘Mes hommes’ and ‘Nantes’. It is 20 years since Barbara died, aged 67, on November 24th 1997. Alexandre Tharaud’s idea for this album dates back to the day of her funeral. He, like many other fans, went to the cemetery in Bagneux on the outskirts of Paris. After the crowds and TV cameras had departed, a group of devotees remained at her grave and joined in an impromptu rendition of her songs. “I realised then that Barbara would live on through our voices,” says Tharaud. “I was young, but the recording studio was already central to my life. That morning, at Bagneux Cemetery, I vowed to make an album dedicated entirely to the music of Barbara. I needed time, and singers … The guests on this album are not those anonymous mourners, but dear friends I have invited to lend their own unique voices to this tribute” . For Hommage à Barbara, Tharaud has assembled a rich and imaginative line-up of performers from a variety of generations and diverse artistic and cultural backgrounds. While there is inevitably a Gallic bias among them, many of their names are well known around the globe. Among them are: actress-singers Juliette Binoche, Vanessa Paradis and Jane Birkin; rock star Radio Elvis; singer-songwriters Bénabar, Juliette, Dominique A, Tim Dup, Jean-Louis Aubert and Albin de la Simone; singers Camélia Jordana, Rokia Traoré, Hindi Zahra and Luz Casal; actor-director Guillaume Gallienne; Erato violinist Renaud Capuçon, clarinettist Michel Portal and the Modigliani string quartet. Alexandre Tharaud himself plays on nearly all the tracks – not just piano, but also electronic organ and keyboards, celesta and bells. Barbara was born in Paris in 1930 as Monique Serf, but she adopted her stage name from her grandmother, Varvara Brodsky, who had been born in Odessa. Her family was Jewish, and she was forced into hiding during World War II. Her suffering as a child was compounded by her sexually abusive father who eventually deserted the family when she was in her teens. She had some conservatory training as both a singer and pianist, but soon began to make her living as a performer, and spent a formative period working in Brussels in the early 1950s. She returned to Paris, where she became friends with the Belgian-born Jacques Brel and built a reputation in the clubs of the Latin Quarter, notably L’Écluse on the banks of the Seine. Her career began to take off in the early 1960s when she attracted attention with songs that she had written herself. Barbara became an important and much-loved figure, sometimes known as ‘La Dame en noir’, a reference to her penchant for elegant black dresses. If her signature number was ‘Ma plus belle histoire d'amour’, her song ‘Göttingen’, named after the city in Saxony, became an anthem of reconciliation for France and Germany; indeed, on the 40th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty in 2003, the then German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, quoted the song in his speech at Versailles. She was a favourite of François Mitterrand, France’s President from 1981-1995, developed a creative collaboration with the actor Gérard Depardieu, and in 1986 performed with ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov in a glittering gala at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. In the course of the 1980s she became active in the fight against AIDS and lent her name to a number of human rights causes. For all her fame and success, she had a difficult private life and suffered from debilitating ill health in her latter years, though she continued to write and record songs, releasing her last album in 1996. © Warner

Mon Frère is the debut album of French singer and songwriter Maxime le Forestier. Mostly acoustic, it makes no attempt to hide the major influences of Georges Brassens, James Taylor, and Bob Dylan on his work and world-view. Standout tracks include the autobiographical "Parachutiste," the title cut, "San Francisco," "Comme un Arbre," and "Education Sentimentale"; all of these songs have earned legendary status in French popular music.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

Miles Davis's final Columbia recording (other than Aura which was released several years later) includes his straightforward ballad interpretations of Cyndy Lauper's "Time After Time" and the Michael Jackson-associated "Human Nature," two songs he would play in most of his concerts for the remainder of his life. Other tunes (including "You're Under Arrest," "One Phone Call" and "Ms. Morrisine") were quickly discarded. In addition to Davis (who had regained his earlier chops) tenor-saxophonist Bob Berg, guitarist John Scofield and guest John McLaughlin get in a few decent solos on this competent but not overly memorable effort.© Scott Yanow /TiVo