L'accident de Piano

Gabriel Pierné was a very important musical figure by the turn of the 20th-century, as winner of the Prix de Rome, celebrated conductor particularly involved in modern music, and composer of famous ballets such as Cydalise et le chèvre-pied. On the other hand, his piano music remains largely unknown.

Gabriel Pierné was a very important musical figure by the turn of the 20th-century, as winner of the Prix de Rome, celebrated conductor particularly involved in modern music, and composer of famous ballets such as Cydalise et le chèvre-pied. On the other hand, his piano music remains largely unknown. This collection by Belgian pianist Diane Andersen is the only complete recording existing! Chronologically ordered, this catalogue reveals Pierné’s evolving style and sensitivity, from early salon music to Fauré-like pieces and somber late works such as the incredible Variations. Many of the works gathered here, remastered in high-resolution, are absolute premieres on record!

For almost 39 years, the International Piano Festival of La Roque d'Anthéron has established itself as an exceptional mainstay in the worldwide musical and piano scene. Although other Festival venues have been added in recent years, the grounds of the Château de Florans remain the key site for unclassifiable encounters between all types of musical creation (classical, contemporary…), every style (jazz, electronic…) and all types of artists, with emerging talents alongside the greatest international performers. The acoustic qualities of the stage, just as suitable for piano recitals as it is for concertos and symphonies, only add to the charms of this mythical and magical park, filled with the entire history of the Château de Florans.

For the past forty-one years, La Roque d’Anthéron has been the festival of all who dare to express their originality and personality through the piano. Sages, iconoclasts, prodigies, poets of all ages and backgrounds, who are reborn every year under the hundred-year-old plane trees of Florans and the celestial vault of the Provençal night. Thus the magic of the nocturnal recitals in this ‘cathedral of greenery’ is perpetuated, renewed each summer. Lined with its three hundred and sixty-five plane trees, the central avenue leads to a setting at once grandiose and intimate where, at nightfall, music fills the air as if by enchantment. With its hundred concerts of classical music and jazz, the Festival of La Roque d’Anthéron is a unique place where everyone can live out his or her own dream of the piano. With the pieces in this selection, performed by some of the greatest pianists and discoveries of the festival, we invite you to share these precious moments of night music.