Boulanger

Now that the whole world is literally and figuratively shaken up, we want to reach people with special music from a time in which everything was also at risk: the period after the First World War. We want to convey an artistic message in which quality and content are central and not the volatility of social media.

Pianist Antonio Oyarzabal takes us on a journey through the work of thirteen different female composers, most of them pianists. Their pieces have been a real source of motivation and inspiration for him. Here he pays tribute to the names and work of these women, unfairly and sadly neglected, in the shadow of compositions written by men. It is a musical journey that takes us on different paths: from Jacquet de la Guerre's French Baroque style to the avant garde proposals of Ruth Crawford Seeger in the beginning of the XXth century; from Lili Boulanger's languor to Germaine Tailleferre's constant joviality; or from the more popular Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn to the almost completely unknown Mana Zucca or Lūcija Garūta. All of this is expressed by the extraordinary sensitivity of a performer who, through long and intense research, has dived deep into the life and historical context of these thirteen unique artistic voices, in order to provide them with the relevance they deserve.

Discs of this type featuring star soloists, more often than not a tenor, are not in short supply. This one, recorded a decade ago as a vehicle for Roberto Alagna and first issued by EMI, scores over many alternatives because of two factors: the programming and the quality of execution. Any programme focusing on French chants sacrés of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is almost bound to include Gounod’s often performed Ave Maria, written after Bach’s famous prelude in the ‘Well-tempered clavier’. To place it at the beginning – as here – is apt and allows the musical content to diversify from that point. Gounod’s representation is extended with three further contributions that pay testament to the importance not only of his compositional voice but also his deeply felt beliefs, which he sought to convey through his music.

Jascha Heifetz was a Lithuanian-born American violinist. He was born in Vilnius. As a teen, he moved with his family to the United States, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. He had a long and successful performing and recording career; after an injury to his right (bowing) arm, he focused on teaching. The New York Times called him "perhaps the greatest violinist of all time."