Search - Pierne, Koch, Gerin :: Complete Chamber Music 1

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Sébastien Melmoth | Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS | 08/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Quoting Adrian Corleonis, "Like a skillfully varied box of the finest chocolates, Pierné's chamber music offers a series of exquisite surprises. True, as Cyril Bongers observes in an introductory note, "Up until the end of the 19th century, it was for the salons that Pierné wrote his music, minor pieces whose somewhat facile charm had no other objective than pleasing the great majority." But that applies to less than half of the program--and those pieces do give pleasure. The present program, on this first volume, is drawn from all periods of Pierné's life, from the Fauré-prompted Berceuse, for violin and piano, of 1880, or the sans opus Pastorale, for wind quintet, composed around 1887, to the three movement Sonata da camera, for flute, cello, and piano of 1926, whose airy charm masks music of genuine sinew and emotional engagement reminiscent of Cydalise et le chèvre-pied. Rivaling the latter in vivacious frippery, Giration, a pocket ballet of 1933 for chamber ensemble, conceived for the two sides of a 78-rpm disc, proves an indispensable companion for anyone wowed by Cydalise or Timpani's recent splendid release of Impressions de music-hall (see Fanfare 30:2). But Pierné is not all bonbons or occasional pieces, as the Violin Sonata, an incandescent burst of lyric radiance, and the pithily cunning Quintet for Piano and Strings demonstrate.



Just here generally snappy performances--and several distinguished ones (e.g., David Sattler in the Solo de concert for bassoon and piano)--take a detour as Philippe Koch's peremptory phrasing through the Violin Sonata frosts its lyric warmth with frigid brilliance, dragging Christian Ivaldi (who knows better) with him. But the Violin Sonata is a relatively popular piece and one may supplement this with a recent more welcoming go at it by Gaëtane Prouvost, with Laurent Cabasso (Intégral 221.153), or the classic Charlier/Hubeau performance (out-of-print but eminently collectible Erato 45525, which I treasure a bit more than when I reviewed it in Fanfare 14:6). The Erato disc, with Hubeau and the Viotti Quartet, and a 1992 account by William Grant Naboré and the Brindisi Quartet (Accord 201282, Fanfare 16:3), once provided similarly élan-motivated and nuance-rife accounts of the Quintet, beside which Timpani's serviceable go seems alternately tentative and vehement, and, in the zortzico-propelled second movement, interminably plodding. If Timpani's forces project the escalating turbulence of the Quintet's final movement with sure command, they miss the suffusion of quicksilver with which those previous recorded performances were laced. And that's to say that this intégral--its first installment, at least--does not wholly escape the mixed bag bane usual with such ambitious productions. On the other hand, Ivaldi, the pianist for all but one of the "piano-and" works, can wring from his instrument a range of sonority from singingly scintillant to sensuously melting, and pretty much carries the show, sparking dialogue from his partners from which particulars of rapture flow. In 1991, I noted a Pierné "boomlet" and observed, "We may speak of a boom when we have such works as the oratorio, L'an mil, or the operetta, Fragonard, on discs." Timpani's booklet announced L'an mil with the tone poems, Les cathédrales and Paysages franciscains, for February--yes, they're late--and his opera, Sophie Arnould, with the Ballet du cour, for September. The second album of chamber music--the substantial Piano Trio and attractive Cello Sonata nestled among yet more delectable bonbons--was due in January but is not yet available as I write in late March. Perhaps by the end of the year . . . But I will venture that, thanks largely to Timpani, a Pierné boom is in full swing. Sound is so immediately upfront that one hears the players' fingerwork, but also well balanced, closely detailed, and gutsy. The open-out sleeve encloses a booklet with companionable and richly detailed annotations by Jacques Tchamkerten. Though regrettable that Albert Samain's poem, Nuit divine, recited to a brief aromatic melodrama, is not included, it may probably still be found online. Enthusiastically recommended."

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Individual Track Details:



1. Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 36 by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: Philippe Koch (Violin), Christian Ivaldi (Piano)

Period: Romantic

Written: 1900; France



2. Fantaisie-impromptu for Violin and Piano, Op. 4 by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: Christian Ivaldi (Piano), Philippe Koch (Violin)

Period: Romantic

Written: 1883; France



3. Caprice for Violin and Piano "Andante" by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: Christian Ivaldi (Piano), Philippe Koch (Violin)

Period: Romantic

Written: by 1881; France



4. Serenade for Oboe and Harp in A major, Op. 7 by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: Philippe Koch (Violin), Christian Ivaldi (Piano)

Period: Romantic

Written: France



5. Quintet for Piano and Strings, Op. 41 by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: Fabian Perdichizzi (Violin), Ilan Schneider (Viola), Aleksandr Khramouchin (Cello),

Christian Ivaldi (Piano), Philippe Koch (Violin)

Orchestra/Ensemble: Louvigny String Quartet

Period: Romantic

Written: 1917; France



6. Sonata da camera, Op. 48 by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: Christian Ivaldi (Piano), Aleksandr Khramouchin (Cello), Étienne Plasman (Flute)

Period: Romantic

Written: 1927; France



7. Canzonetta for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 19 by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: Christian Ivaldi (Piano), Olivier Dartevelle (Clarinet)

Period: Romantic

Written: 1888; France



8. Pièce for Oboe and Piano in G minor, Op. 5 by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: Christian Ivaldi (Piano), Philippe Gonzales (Oboe)

Period: Romantic

Written: 1883; Villa Médicis, Rome,



9. Prélude de concert sur un thème de Purcell, Op. 53 by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: David Sattler (Bassoon), Christian Ivaldi (Piano)

Period: Romantic

Written: 1933; France



10. Solo de concert for Bassoon and Piano, Op. 35 by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: Christian Ivaldi (Piano), David Sattler (Bassoon)

Period: Romantic

Written: 1898; France



11. Pastorale, Op. 41 "Dans le style ancien" by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: David Sattler (Bassoon), Étienne Plasman (Flute), Philippe Gonzales (Oboe),

Jean-Philippe Vivier (Clarinet), Miklós Nagy (French Horn)

Period: Romantic

Written: France



12. Preludio and Fughetta, Op. 40 by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: Philippe Gonzales (Oboe), Étienne Plasman (Flute), David Sattler (Bassoon),

Markus Brönnimann (Flute), Jean-Philippe Vivier (Clarinet), François Baptiste (Bassoon),

Miklós Nagy (French Horn)

Period: Romantic

Written: 1903; France



13. Pastorale variée, Op. 30 by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: Philippe Gonzales (Oboe), Miklós Nagy (French Horn), Jean-Philippe Vivier (Clarinet),

Étienne Plasman (Flute), François Baptiste (Bassoon), Adam Rixer (Trumpet),

David Sattler (Bassoon)

Period: Romantic

Written: circa 1893; France



14. Giration by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: Thierry Gavard (Double Bass), David Sattler (Bassoon), Fabian Perdichizzi (Violin),

Olivier Dartevelle (Clarinet), Julia Knowles (Piano), Ilan Schneider (Viola),

Gilles Heritier (Trombone), Étienne Plasman (Flute), Vincent Gerin (Cello),

Adam Rixer (Trumpet), Philippe Koch (Violin)

Period: Romantic

Written: 1933; France



15. La Danseuse espagnole for Violin and Piano by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: Christian Ivaldi (Piano), Philippe Koch (Violin)

Period: Romantic

Written: 1925; France



16. Nuit divine by Gabriel Pierné

Performer: Julia Knowles (Harmonium), Philippe Koch (Violin), Rémy Franck (Spoken Vocals)

Period: Romantic

Written: 1902; France

Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium

Language: French

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