Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Emma Boynet - The Complete Solo 78rpm Recordings & Faure LPs
APR

Emma Boynet - The Complete Solo 78rpm Recordings & Faure LPs

$21.99

Details

Composer
VARIOUS
Artist
Emma Boynet
Format
CD
Label
APR
Released
Feb 05, 2021
Catalog #
APR6033
UPC
5024709160334

About

Parisian, Emma Boynet (1891–1974) studied with Isidor Philipp at the Conservatoire and became an established part of the local music scene in the 1920s and 30s. She was one of the few French pianists to find success in the USA, travelling there for the first time in the company of her former teacher in 1934, and as a result, made several albums for Victor in New York, including a five-disc 78rpm album entitled ‘French Piano Music’. Her career seems to have faltered in the 1950s but not before she made two highly regarded (but now rare) Faure LPs which have become collectors’ items. We are delighted to reissue them here.

REVIEW:

I had never heard of the French pianist Emma Boynet (1891-1974) before this remarkable release came to my attention and hooked me for life. Boynet studied with the legendary Isidor Philipp, with whom she remained associated throughout his long life. During the 1930s and ’40s Boynet made frequent concert and radio appearances in the United States, yet kept a low profile in her final decade. More importantly, she made extraordinary recordings. APR has reissued on two generously filled CDs all of Boynet’s solo 78s, together with the contents of two all-Fauré LPs recorded for Vox in 1950 and 1952.

If Boynet had left us nothing else, the sheer insouciance and effortless mastery of her 1932 Pathé Weber Rondo brillante (sound clip) assures her legendary status, although her sultry Falla Andaluza is nothing to sneeze at. She takes Schubert’s G-flat Impromptu at an appropriately alla breve tempo. True, she dashes through the Rondo finale of Haydn’s two-movement C major sonata like a bat out of hell, yet what staggering control and timing!

Apparently all of the selections in Boynet’s 1938 RCA Victor French Music Anthology were first takes, including an audaciously winged and imaginatively phrased Chabrier Bourrée fantasque that makes everyone else’s sound thick and clumsy. Naturally she plays Philipp’s charming Nocturne and scintillating Feux-follets with total affection and style. Boynet subjects Debussy’s Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir from Preludes Book I to capricious tempo shifts, and arpeggiates chords at random; it’s a curious reading that doesn’t convince. However, Boynet and Fauré merge as one.

She understands and internalizes the composer’s textural transparency and intricately wrought counterpoint, while projecting the melodies so that they move over the bar lines. As a result, some listeners may feel that her animation in the Fifth and Sixth Barcarolles borders on impatience, a factor arguably mitigated by the Vox LPs’ dry sonics and less-than resplendent concert grand. On the other hand, her Vox Fourth Nocturne is smoother and more lyrically unfolding than in her earlier 78 rpm version. And Boynet’s spacious, poetic Vox accounts of the great Sixth and Seventh Nocturnes count among the Fauré piano discography’s treasures.

Frédéric Gaussin’s extensive annotations are as scholarly and informative as one could wish, not to mention Mark Obert-Thorn’s world-class transfers. In all, a significant addition to APR’s ongoing French Piano School reissues, and an absolute must for pianophiles.

-- ClassicsToday.com (Jed Distler)

Tracklist 38 tracks

  1. Disc 1
  2. 1 4 Impromptus, Op. 90, D. 899: No. 3 in G-Flat Major 04:17
    Track
    1
    Title
    4 Impromptus, Op. 90, D. 899: No. 3 in G-Flat Major
    Duration
    04:17
    Composer
    Franz Schubert
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  3. 2 Rondo brillante in E-Flat Major, Op. 62, J. 252 04:20
    Track
    2
    Title
    Rondo brillante in E-Flat Major, Op. 62, J. 252
    Duration
    04:20
    Composer
    Carl Maria von Weber
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  4. 3 Nocturne No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 36 06:37
    Track
    3
    Title
    Nocturne No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 36
    Duration
    06:37
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  5. 4 Impromptu No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 31 03:17
    Track
    4
    Title
    Impromptu No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 31
    Duration
    03:17
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  6. 5 4 Piezas españolas: No. 4. Andaluza 03:36
    Track
    5
    Title
    4 Piezas españolas: No. 4. Andaluza
    Duration
    03:36
    Composer
    Manuel de Falla
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  7. 6 Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, BWV 711 (arr. L. Perrachio for piano) 02:52
    Track
    6
    Title
    Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, BWV 711 (arr. L. Perrachio for piano)
    Duration
    02:52
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  8. 7 Piano Sonata No. 58 in C Major, Hob.XVI:48: II. Rondo: Presto 03:25
    Track
    7
    Title
    Piano Sonata No. 58 in C Major, Hob.XVI:48: II. Rondo: Presto
    Duration
    03:25
    Composer
    Franz Joseph Haydn
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  9. 8 10 Pièces pittoresques: No. 6. Idylle 03:38
    Track
    8
    Title
    10 Pièces pittoresques: No. 6. Idylle
    Duration
    03:38
    Composer
    Emmanuel Chabrier
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  10. 9 Bourrée fantasque (version for piano) 06:02
    Track
    9
    Title
    Bourrée fantasque (version for piano)
    Duration
    06:02
    Composer
    Emmanuel Chabrier
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  11. 10 Barcarolle No. 5 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 66 06:21
    Track
    10
    Title
    Barcarolle No. 5 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 66
    Duration
    06:21
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  12. 11 Préludes, Book 1: No. 4. Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir 03:10
    Track
    11
    Title
    Préludes, Book 1: No. 4. Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir
    Duration
    03:10
    Composer
    Claude Debussy
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  13. 12 3 Pieces formant suite de concert, Op. 40: No. 2. Nocturne en forme de valse (version for solo piano) 06:08
    Track
    12
    Title
    3 Pieces formant suite de concert, Op. 40: No. 2. Nocturne en forme de valse (version for solo piano)
    Duration
    06:08
    Composer
    Gabriel Pierné
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  14. 13 Nocturne, Op. 90 03:41
    Track
    13
    Title
    Nocturne, Op. 90
    Duration
    03:41
    Composer
    Isidore Philipp
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  15. 14 Pastels, Op. 24: No. 3. Feux-follets, "Will-of-the-Wisp" 02:13
    Track
    14
    Title
    Pastels, Op. 24: No. 3. Feux-follets, "Will-of-the-Wisp"
    Duration
    02:13
    Composer
    Isidore Philipp
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  16. 15 Baigneuses au soleil, "Souvenir de Banyuls-sur-mer" 05:50
    Track
    15
    Title
    Baigneuses au soleil, "Souvenir de Banyuls-sur-mer"
    Duration
    05:50
    Composer
    Déodat de Sévérac
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  17. 16 No. 9. La marchande d'eau fraîche 02:43
    Track
    16
    Title
    No. 9. La marchande d'eau fraîche
    Duration
    02:43
    Composer
    Jacques Ibert
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  18. 17 No. 2. Le petit âne blanc 01:54
    Track
    17
    Title
    No. 2. Le petit âne blanc
    Duration
    01:54
    Composer
    Jacques Ibert
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  19. 18 6 Danses et airs anciens, Op. 76: No. 5. Largo (after L. da Vinci) 02:44
    Track
    18
    Title
    6 Danses et airs anciens, Op. 76: No. 5. Largo (after L. da Vinci)
    Duration
    02:44
    Composer
    Isidore Philipp
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  20. 19 Minuetto vivace (after P. Castrucci) 03:22
    Track
    19
    Title
    Minuetto vivace (after P. Castrucci)
    Duration
    03:22
    Composer
    Isidore Philipp
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  21. 20 No. 2. Air (after B. Pasquini) 03:15
    Track
    20
    Title
    No. 2. Air (after B. Pasquini)
    Duration
    03:15
    Composer
    Isidore Philipp
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  22. 21 No. 4. Sicilienne et Gavotte (after P. Castrucci) 03:16
    Track
    21
    Title
    No. 4. Sicilienne et Gavotte (after P. Castrucci)
    Duration
    03:16
    Composer
    Isidore Philipp
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  23. Disc 2
  24. 1 Barcarolle No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 26 04:36
    Track
    1
    Title
    Barcarolle No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 26
    Duration
    04:36
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  25. 2 Barcarolle No. 2 in G Major, Op. 41 05:30
    Track
    2
    Title
    Barcarolle No. 2 in G Major, Op. 41
    Duration
    05:30
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  26. 3 Barcarolle No. 3 in G-Flat Major, Op. 42 07:04
    Track
    3
    Title
    Barcarolle No. 3 in G-Flat Major, Op. 42
    Duration
    07:04
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  27. 4 Barcarolle No. 4 in A-Flat Major, Op. 44 03:28
    Track
    4
    Title
    Barcarolle No. 4 in A-Flat Major, Op. 44
    Duration
    03:28
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  28. 5 Barcarolle No. 5 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 66 05:52
    Track
    5
    Title
    Barcarolle No. 5 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 66
    Duration
    05:52
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  29. 6 Barcarolle No. 6 in E-Flat Major, Op. 70 03:06
    Track
    6
    Title
    Barcarolle No. 6 in E-Flat Major, Op. 70
    Duration
    03:06
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  30. 7 No. 1 in A-Flat Major 02:46
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 1 in A-Flat Major
    Duration
    02:46
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  31. 8 No. 2 in A Minor 02:30
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 2 in A Minor
    Duration
    02:30
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  32. 9 No. 3 in A-Flat Major 02:49
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 3 in A-Flat Major
    Duration
    02:49
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  33. 10 8 Pièces brèves, Op. 84: No. 5. Improvisation 02:00
    Track
    10
    Title
    8 Pièces brèves, Op. 84: No. 5. Improvisation
    Duration
    02:00
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  34. 11 Clair de lune, Op. 46, No. 2 (arr. A. Perilhou for piano) 02:53
    Track
    11
    Title
    Clair de lune, Op. 46, No. 2 (arr. A. Perilhou for piano)
    Duration
    02:53
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  35. 12 Nocturne No. 1 in E-Flat Minor, Op. 33, No. 1 06:46
    Track
    12
    Title
    Nocturne No. 1 in E-Flat Minor, Op. 33, No. 1
    Duration
    06:46
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  36. 13 Nocturne No. 2 in B Major, Op. 33, No. 2 05:31
    Track
    13
    Title
    Nocturne No. 2 in B Major, Op. 33, No. 2
    Duration
    05:31
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  37. 14 Nocturne No. 3 in A-Flat Major, Op. 33, No. 3 04:14
    Track
    14
    Title
    Nocturne No. 3 in A-Flat Major, Op. 33, No. 3
    Duration
    04:14
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  38. 15 Nocturne No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 36 06:34
    Track
    15
    Title
    Nocturne No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 36
    Duration
    06:34
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  39. 16 Nocturne No. 6 in D-Flat Major, Op. 63 08:21
    Track
    16
    Title
    Nocturne No. 6 in D-Flat Major, Op. 63
    Duration
    08:21
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet
  40. 17 Nocturne No. 7 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 74 08:14
    Track
    17
    Title
    Nocturne No. 7 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 74
    Duration
    08:14
    Composer
    Gabriel Fauré
    Performer
    Emma Boynet