Jean François Corvaisier Mendelssohn Trios Pour Piano, Violon et Violoncelle, Op 49 & 66

Here is a double shot of hyphenated-name, late French Romantic trios for violin, cello, and piano: the Trio in A minor of Joseph Guy Ropartz (who later went as Guy-Ropartz) and the Trio Op. 31 of (René-Emmanuel) "Rhené"-Baton. Ropartz was a long-lived disciple of d'Indy of whom conventional wisdom states waited until World War II before abandoning his post-Franckian idiom in favor of a more up-to-date neo-classic style.

Although he was a student at the Paris Conservatoire at the same time as Debussy, studied with Massenet and Franck, won the Prix de Rome, and even succeeded Franck at the venerable post of organist at Sainte-Clotilde, the name of Gabriel Pierné is little remembered today, to say nothing of his compositions. Fortunately for listeners, the Canadian ensemble Trio Hochelaga has among its missions the revitalization of forgotten and underappreciated French compositions. Pierné's C minor trio certainly falls into their purview.

L’Entretien des Muses composé de Virginie Descharmes (violon), Tormod Dalen (violoncelle) et Stéphane Fuget (clavecin) nous invite à revivre avec un exceptionnel talent et un souci de véracité historique parfaitement ressuscité l’exécution des trios pour clavecin, violon et basse que Joseph Haydn composa entre 1755 et 1765. L’esprit de Haydn, qui n’est pas encore celui de la grande maturité, souffle sur ces pièces Hoboken XV (n° 1, 35, 37, 40, 41) que les interprètes abordent à égalité, chaque partenaire réussissant à faire entendre sa partie face à ses comparses. Est-il besoin de préciser que leur maîtrise instrumentale n’est nullement un problème et qu’alors seuls importent les choix interprétatifs?

Renaud Capuçon now has more than one string on his violin: Festival director (Les Rencontres artistiques de Bel-Air, Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival), a well-known chamber musician (he counts Hélène Grimaud, Martha Argerich, Frank Braley or Nicholas Angelich among his election partners), not to mention his brief appearance in the film of Claude Lelouch 7. 57 ap-pm. On the occasion of his 40th birthday, Warner published a CD set entitled "Le Violon Roi", which acts as a portrait of the French violinist, "an enlightened ambassador of classical music to the general public". At his side, the greatest orchestras, conductors and musicians give him the replica in these mostly well-known pieces of music.