Un monde Fantastique (Extended Version)

Albumbeschreibung

Two great masters of Romantic piano, Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt, inhabit the diverse landscapes of Un monde Fantastique (A Fantastic World). For his first album, released on Mirare, Jean-Baptiste Doulcet draws on the works of both composers and constructs a demanding programme in which each piece conjures up a rich assemblage of literary and mythological material. This syncretism produces a strong imagery that the young pianist, winner of the 2019 Marguerite-Long competition, arranges in a stunning way under his alert and precise fingers. 

The ‘Un monde Fantastique’ takes up a famous theme from Gounod's opera, and could almost be considered a hidden fifth sister to the four Mephisto Waltzes, themselves drawn from the Faustian universe. The sonata ‘Après une lecture du Dante : Fantasia quasi sonata’  from the second volume of the Années de pèlerinage is one of the pianistic peaks of Liszt's catalogue. Doulcet sublimates the score inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy and offers us a radiant vision of a hell illuminated by a perfect execution and millimetric balancing of sounds. Schumann's works receive the same choice treatment: the ‘Liederkreis Op.39’ is a jewel of sweetness, a wonderful caress on the cheek. The eight pieces of the Kreisleriana cycle, Op.16 composed for Clara Wieck, the love of Schumann's life, are, like other Schumann works, a reflection of the composer’s two avatars: Eusebius, the melancholic dreamer, and Florestan, the fiery and passionate. Doulcet moves from one mood to another with disconcerting ease, preferring to rely on the fluidity of transitions rather than on the accentuation of contrasts.

All too often, the Romantic piano - particularly in the case of virtuoso composers such as Schumann, Liszt and Chopin - has suffered from the temptation of excessive volume and rubato. Here, Doulcet skilfully avoids this trap and shows us that it is by maintaining a relative rigidity in tempo and nuance that these works display their highest expressive power. His own qualities as a composer undoubtedly play a part in this intelligent reading of the score. The album closes with three of his own compositions: Endymion, a tribute to his teachers, and two fascinating improvisations that bear witness to a colourful musical and intellectual personality. After having religiously listened to this disc, one comes away with the certainty that Jean-Baptiste Doulcet is a performer to be followed very closely in the years to come. © Pierre Lamy/Qobuz