Notes and Editorial Reviews
Ophélie Gaillard's calling-card album is just the ticket
in terms of presentation. Gaillard plays a Goffriller loaned
to her by CIC. As for the music it is a selection of toothsome
miniatures as arranged by Craig Leon. He did a similar service
for Joshua Bell not so long ago.
The music by temperament of the original and by arranger's art
is warmly romantic. It is recorded strongly. Pride of place
in the sound-stage is accorded to Gaillard but the orchestra
is not neglected. The Song to the Moon catches the supernatural
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element in Dvořák and makes a link I should have
made long before now with the Erben-based tone poems of his
later years. The Grieg Solveig Song leaves you in no
doubt that Gaillard is a fluent communicator of emotion - nothing
cold or disengaged here. The Sonnambula and L'Elisir
hits are smooth but leave little impression beyond a sweet glow.
Leon makes prominent play with the harp and an example is in
Mio Babbino Caro which is most lovingly shaped by Gaillard
and her orchestral partners. The Satie pieces have each had
the central heating turned on and the sentimentality setting
advanced. This works better in the Gnossienne than in
the Gymnopedie. The Fauré Pavane, on the
other hand, is taken at an unsentimental, even impatient clip.
I would, by contrast, have preferred a higher sanglote
quotient. Things are more adroitly judged in Après
un Rêve. The two Chopin pieces are nicely shaped,
the Mazurka even making unexpected connections with Sibelius's
incidental music. The Nocturne needs a little more reserve
- held back rather than unleashed. Rachmaninov's Vocalise
has been arranged every which way and is superbly done here.
The dialogue with the violin is most touchingly done. We end
with the passionately swelling and receding Tchaikovsky Valse
sentimentale. This serves as a rubric for the whole collection.
Gaillard has already recorded the Bach suites, Britten suites
and Sonata and Fauré pieces (all for Ambroisie) so this
is no starter collection. It should please the seemingly inexhaustible
market for sincerely shaped sentimental anthologies. Meantime
how about next time including the world premiere recording of
Florent Schmitt's superbly imaginative Cello Concerto which
rejoices under the title Introit, Récit et Congé.
Now that would make a most welcome entry into the CD lists.
Is anyone listening, I wonder.
-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Préludes, Book 1: no 8, La fille aux cheveux de lin by Claude Debussy
Performer:
Ophelie Gaillard (Cello)
Conductor:
Tim Redmond
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1909-1910; France
2.
Rusalka, Op. 114/B 203: O moon high up "Song to the moon" by Antonín Dvorák
Performer:
Ophelie Gaillard (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1900; Bohemia
3.
Peer Gynt Suite no 2, Op. 55: no 4, Solvejg's Song by Edvard Grieg
Performer:
Ophelie Gaillard (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1875/1892; Norway
4.
Mazurkas (4) for Piano, Op. 67: no 4 in A minor, B 163 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Ophelie Gaillard (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1846; Paris, France
5.
Nocturnes (3) for Piano, B 54/Op. 9: no 2 in E flat major by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Ophelie Gaillard (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1830-1831; Poland
6.
Morceaux (6) for Piano, Op. 51: no 6, Valse sentimentale by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Performer:
Ophelie Gaillard (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1882; Russia
7.
Songs (14), Op. 34: no 14, Vocalise by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:
Ophelie Gaillard (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1912-1915; Russia
8.
Gymnopédies (3) for Piano: no 1, Lent et douloureux by Erik Satie
Performer:
Ophelie Gaillard (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1888; France
9.
Gnossiennes (6) for Piano: no 1 by Erik Satie
Performer:
Ophelie Gaillard (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1890; France
10.
Pavane, Op. 50 by Gabriel Fauré
Performer:
Ophelie Gaillard (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1887; France
11.
Après un rêve, Op. 7 no 1 by Gabriel Fauré
Performer:
Ophelie Gaillard (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1877; France
12.
La sonnambula: Ah, non credea mirarti by Vincenzo Bellini
Performer:
Ophelie Gaillard (Cello)
Conductor:
Tim Redmond
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1831; Italy
13.
L'Elisir d'Amore: Una furtiva lagrima by Gaetano Donizetti
Performer:
Ophelie Gaillard (Cello)
Conductor:
Tim Redmond
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1832; Italy
14.
Gianni Schicchi: O mio babbino caro by Giacomo Puccini
Performer:
Ophelie Gaillard (Cello)
Conductor:
Tim Redmond
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1918; Italy
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