Henri IV

"We are only at the very beginning of the immense task of understanding the vocal, instrumental, and choreographic practices of late sixteenth century France," writes this disc's annotator. It's Italy and its gigantic wedding spectacles that get all the attention at the end of the sixteenth century. (Imagine if Jenna Bush married the son of the president of Exxon Mobil and the White House enlisted hundreds of artists and musicians to build the ceremony.) This disc is, perhaps, for specialists, but it's a lot of fun for anybody.

In addition to the traditional pairing of the Debussy and Ravel string quartets, the Arcanto Quartett performs Henri Dutilleux's Ainsi la Nuit (1971-1976), a grouping that is becoming increasingly popular on recordings. These are absolutely secure, thoughtful, self-effacing readings of the Debussy and the Ravel. While the quartet doesn't bring particular new revelations to the pieces, the members play with nuanced sensitivity and impeccable musicianship. The haunted quiet they achieve in the first part of the third movement of the Debussy is especially impressive, as is the clarity of their sense of direction and unity in the final movement, the most difficult of the four to pull off. Similarly in the Ravel, the contrast between the serenity of the third movement and the raw athleticism of the fourth is attention-grabbing and invigorating.

Les deux oeuvres sont des classiques des concerts pour enfants qui connaissent un même succès mon­dial : le conte musical « Pierre et le loup » de Prokofiev et « Le Carnaval des animaux » de Camille Saint-Saëns, que ce dernier a décrit – probablement avec un clin d’oeil – comme une « Grande fantaisie zoologique ». Est-ce que l’essentiel est ainsi dit ? Pas du tout. Car la question se pose de savoir pourquoi les adultes appré­cient autant que les enfants l’histoire du brave Pierre et du méchant loup. Cela a sans doute à voir avec la géniale musique de Prokofiev. Il faut en outre se sou­venir que Saint-Saëns a composé son « Carnaval » pour un concert privé à domicile, c›est-à-dire pour le divertissement d’adultes. Et ces derniers ne pou­vaient apparemment pas se retenir de rire, si bien que le compositeur a soudain pris peur et a strictement interdit la publication de son oeuvre charmante, crai­gnant que ses oeuvres sérieuses ne soient dès lors plus prises au sérieux. D’une certaine façon, on lui a donné raison : en termes de popularité auprès des jeunes et moins jeunes, aucune autre oeuvre de Saint-Saëns ne peut rivaliser avec le « Carnaval des animaux ».

A solitaire in French is a single mounted jewel, a concept that seems less than apt for the rather hefty works recorded here by British pianist Kathryn Stott. But this fine recital holds together in another way: Ravel, who so often provides the temporal endpoint for traditional piano recitals, is here, to a greater or lesser extent, the launching point for the other three composers featured. Stott's reading of the neoclassical Le Tombeau de Couperin is beautifully precise and balanced, catching the economy of this Baroque-style suite to the hilt. That economy carries over into the later works, even the rarely performed Piano Sonata of Henri Dutilleux, a work that deftly fuses Ravel's sense of classical forms with a largely dissonant language. The opening Prelude and Fugue of Jehan Alain, actually two separate works that are reasonably enough combined here, is another seldom-played piece that makes an arresting curtain-raiser, and the final "Le baiser de l'Enfant Jésus" of Messiaen, part of the giant Vingt regards sur l'Enfant Jésus, is the splendid climax of the whole, its spiritual, dreamlike ascent at the end superbly controlled. Better still is the sound, recorded at Hallé St. Peters in Manchester: it creates a hypnotic effect all its own.

A rare project of Vivaldi's Viola d'Amore Concerto performed with viola d'amore, mandolin & guitar orchestra! Vivaldi composed several concertos for solo viola d'amore for his students at the Pietà Conservatory.

Léon Boëllmann’s Suite gothique, with its suave Prière à Notre-Dame and its spirited Toccata, rapidly became a beloved war-horse of organists throughout the world and gained the composer great renown. The Suite’s fame, however, caused other works by Boëllmann — who had been born in the same year as Debussy and who died in the same year as Brahms — to be forgotten. Patrick Davin chose to present Boëllmann’s symphonic works on this recording, the last he was to make before his untimely death.

Après avoir été organiste de l’église Saint-Paul à Paris, le Liégeois Henry Du Mont devient maître de chapelle de Louis XIV. Dès la publication de son premier recueil de motets en 1652, les Cantica Sacra, il s’impose comme l’un des créateurs du motet français et compose les premiers motets à voix seule, genre qui se développera durant les générations suivantes. Cet enregistrement est complété par quelques motets de Léonard Hodemont, maître de chapelle de la cathédrale Saint-Lambert de Liège.

French modern composer Henri. Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013), born in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France, was active in the second half of the twentieth century. The work combines the styles of Ravel, Debussy and Albert Roussel, as well as the style of his own creation. In addition to being influenced by Impressionist music, he also used serialism and atonality to write.