Notes and Editorial Reviews
PIERNÉ
Fantaisie-Impromptu.
1,3
Violin Sonata.
1,3
Sérénade.
1,3
Berceuse.
1,3
Andante.
1,3
Piano Quintet.
1,9
Pastorale for Winds.
10,12,14,15,17
Canzonetta.
1,13
Sonata da
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camera,
op. 48.
1,6,10
Prélude de concert.
1,15
Preludio e fughetta.
10,11,12,14,15,16,17
Pièce.
1,14
Pastorale variée.
10,12,14,15,16,17,18
Solo de concert.
1,15
La danseuse espagnole
1,3
Giration.
2,3,4,5,7,8,10,13,15,18,19
Nuit divine
2,3,20
•
Christian Ivaldi (pn);
1
Julia Knowles (pn, hrm);
2
Philippe Koch (vn);
3
Fabian Perdichizzi (vn);
4
Ilan Schneider (va);
5
Aleksandr Khramouchin (vc);
6
Vincent Gérin (vc);
7
Thierry Gavard (db);
8
Quatuor Louvigny;
9
Étienne Plasman (fl);
10
Markus Brönnimann (fl);
11
Jean-Philippe Vivier (cl);
12
Olivier Darteville (cl);
13
Philippe Gonzales (ob);
14
David Sattler (bn);
15
François Baptiste (bn);
16
Miklos Nagy (hn);
17
Adam Rixer (tpt);
18
Gilles Héritier (tbn);
19
Rémy Franck (nar)
20
•
TIMPANI 1110 (2 CDs: 140:44)
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.
FANFARE: Adrian Corleonis
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Works on This Recording
1.
Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 36 by Gabriel Pierné
Performer:
Christian Ivaldi (Piano),
Philippe Koch (Violin)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1900; France
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
2.
Fantaisie-impromptu for Violin and Piano, Op. 4 by Gabriel Pierné
Performer:
Christian Ivaldi (Piano),
Philippe Koch (Violin)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1883; France
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
3.
Caprice for Violin and Piano "Andante" by Gabriel Pierné
Performer:
Christian Ivaldi (Piano),
Philippe Koch (Violin)
Period: Romantic
Written: by 1881; France
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
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
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
5.
Quintet for Piano and Strings, Op. 41 by Gabriel Pierné
Performer:
Ilan Schneider (Viola),
Fabian Perdichizzi (Violin),
Aleksandr Khramouchin (Cello),
Philippe Koch (Violin),
Christian Ivaldi (Piano)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Louvigny String Quartet
Period: Romantic
Written: 1917; France
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
6.
Sonata da camera, Op. 48 by Gabriel Pierné
Performer:
Aleksandr Khramouchin (Cello),
Étienne Plasman (Flute),
Christian Ivaldi (Piano)
Written: 1927
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
7.
Canzonetta for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 19 by Gabriel Pierné
Performer:
Olivier Dartevelle (Clarinet),
Christian Ivaldi (Piano)
Written: 1888
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
8.
Pièce for Oboe and Piano in G minor, Op. 5 by Gabriel Pierné
Performer:
Philippe Gonzales (Oboe),
Christian Ivaldi (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1883; Villa Médicis, Rome,
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
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
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
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
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
11.
Pastorale, Op. 41 "Dans le style ancien" by Gabriel Pierné
Performer:
Philippe Gonzales (Oboe),
Miklós Nagy (French Horn),
David Sattler (Bassoon),
Étienne Plasman (Flute),
Jean-Philippe Vivier (Clarinet)
Period: Romantic
Written: France
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
12.
Preludio and Fughetta, Op. 40 by Gabriel Pierné
Performer:
Philippe Gonzales (Oboe),
Jean-Philippe Vivier (Clarinet),
Miklós Nagy (French Horn),
Markus Brönnimann (Flute),
François Baptiste (Bassoon),
David Sattler (Bassoon),
Étienne Plasman (Flute)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1903; France
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
13.
Pastorale variée, Op. 30 by Gabriel Pierné
Performer:
Jean-Philippe Vivier (Clarinet),
Adam Rixer (Trumpet),
François Baptiste (Bassoon),
Miklós Nagy (French Horn),
Philippe Gonzales (Oboe),
Étienne Plasman (Flute),
David Sattler (Bassoon)
Period: Romantic
Written: circa 1893; France
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
14.
Giration by Gabriel Pierné
Performer:
Gilles Heritier (Trombone),
Julia Knowles (Piano),
Olivier Dartevelle (Clarinet),
Thierry Gavard (Double Bass),
Vincent Gerin (Cello),
Adam Rixer (Trumpet),
Ilan Schneider (Viola),
Fabian Perdichizzi (Violin),
David Sattler (Bassoon),
Philippe Koch (Violin),
Étienne Plasman (Flute)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1933; France
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
15.
La Danseuse espagnole for Violin and Piano by Gabriel Pierné
Performer:
Christian Ivaldi (Piano),
Philippe Koch (Violin)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1925; France
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
16.
Nuit divine by Gabriel Pierné
Performer:
Julia Knowles (Harmonium),
Rémy Franck (Spoken Vocals),
Philippe Koch (Violin)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1902; France
Venue: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium
Language: French
Notes: Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Belgium (2005 - 2006)
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