Revelatory performances by a re-discovered pianist
Vincent Lau | 08/13/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Gabriel Faure's 13 Nocturnes, composed over a period of 46 years from 1875 to 1921, form a remarkable series in the composer's output. Starting from the rather conventional first Nocturne, the music traverses through episodes of light and darkness, agitation and serenity until it reaches those dark and desolate final pieces. From it, one can see how Faure's compositional idiom matured over the 4 decades and how the music itself increases in profundity and harmonic complexity as the series progresses. It represents such a fascinating musical and spiritual journey so that performing or listening to them in chronological order can be a most mesmerizing, revelatory and hugely rewarding experience. These beautiful and evocative works have found in Germaine Thyssens-Valentin their perfect advocate. The Dutch pianist, who died 1987 at the age of 85, is a rather obscure name to most. The reason for such neglect by pianophiles may stem from the fact that she took a lengthy sabbatical mid-career to raise her 5 children and that the label which she mostly recorded with, namely Ducretet-Thomson, did not survive very long into the stereo era. It is therefore laudable for Testament to re-issue some of her Faure recordings, of which this is one.What makes Thyssens-Valentin the Faure interpreter par excellence, then? Well, her outstanding pianistic and interpretative qualities will immediately become evident when one puts on this wonderful recording. The catalogue of her attributes makes a long list - She is blessed with a superb technique, and her playing is characterised by impeccable musicianship, a warm and beautiful tone, a most sensitive touch, a wide palette of tone colours and dynamic range, the most subtle of keyboard inflections, a complete command of the art of voicing the melodic line as well as those exquisite figurations in Faure's piano writing, a sort of lyrical eloquence that will charm the listener to submission, a deep understanding of the music's possibilities as well as a total identification with the spirit of the music. It is difficult to imagine any other to equal, let alone surpass, these exceedingly fine performances.Testament has done some good re-mastering for the re-issue. However, I found the piano tone to be occasionally rather "misty", especially for notes in the middle range, which probably is a feature of the original 1956 mono recordings. The presentation of the CD is good, with 2 well-written articles by Jeannine Lancien, daughter of Thyssens-Valentin, and Bryce Morrison. As this CD may help many listeners to discover or re-evaluate both a neglected master pianist as well as Faure's music, and that it can also give great pleasure to both the ear and the mind, it can be recommended with the greatest enthusiasm."
Impeccable clarity of line
E. Weed | Houston, TX | 03/13/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"With the excellent review material already written, I'd only like to add a few comments.
I've been enjoying Faure's music since music school 30 years ago, and, by now, I've probably heard the work of most pianists that have taken a serious stab at his wonderful 4+ hours of solo piano music. Like most of us, I'd never heard of Thyssens-Valentin. I can't say we should jettison the work of Stott or Roge or Collard now that these discs are out, but Thyssens-Valentin has a particular approach that I think is worth emphasizing: She does a wonderful job of leading our ears with the main thread of the musical ideas such that the progression from beginning to end of each of these Nocturnes seems quite straightforward; almost simple. Stott, much as I like her in many respects, tends, like many pianists, to get caught up in the detail, and to "worry" over the filigree...all the activity that moves around the main line. That's lovely stuff too, but Thyssens-Valentin is almost hypnotic in the way she grabs your ear and takes you through the steps of each Nocturne.
I admit, though, that toward the end of the disc, she occasionally sounds just a bit labored, like the struggle (hers or Faure's?) is almost too much. But this is a small thing in an otherwise very significant achievement. I agree, too, that the sound is decent, but no better. It's certainly good enough to allow the message to get across.
If you like Faure's piano music, this is a must. If you've never heard it, but are interested, I think this is a very good place to start."
Faure never played better
Allan K. Betz | Ogden, Utah, USA | 12/18/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Gabreil Faure himself said he did not want his music played daintily. Many pianists play with too much sensitivity. Since the music is emotionally charged as is, it is easily overdone. Others play his works, Nocturnes in particular, as showpieces (Horowitz for example).
These performances, on the other hand,strike me as just right. Faure is an essentially contrupuntal composer. Germain brings out the countermelodies and shapes all of the lines exquisitely. There is no lack of emotion in her playing but then she doesn't overdo it either. Of course, the recordings are old and they sound it. Still this has been a wonderful discovery for one who has been looking for the right Faure piano performances for years."
