Le Piace Brahms?

We know that Brahms was a great enthusiast of the keyboard and yet he composed few works exclusively for piano. Accordingly, the Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn and Sonata for Two Pianos are all the more precious with their scores containing the full harmonic complexity and tonal diversity of his music, made sublime by the nimble fingers of Éric Le Sage and Théo Fouchenneret. This is a pivotal milestone in the huge endeavour of producing the Complete Works of Brahms undertaken by B Records since 2017

This new section deals with the wind instruments of the German master. It brings together interpreters obviously welded and passionate, accomplices and followers of a collective game whose result engraved on two CDs is royal and ideal to discover or find this repertoire dotted with timeless nuggets.

Variations funèbres, valses folles ou mélancoliques, danses hongroises où claquent des accents tziganes : c’est un florilège de l’esthétique brahmsienne qui vient conclure en beauté l’intégrale de la musique de chambre du compositeur chez B Records. Théo Fouchenneret et Éric Le Sage donnent toutes ses couleurs et ses contrastes au répertoire trop souvent mésestimé du piano à quatre mains.

Une vingtaine d’années sépare les deux sonates pour violoncelle et piano de Johannes Brahms, belle ellipse qui permet d’entendre l’évolution et l’ampleur de son écriture : théâtrale, fantaisiste et ample dans la première, intime et mélancolique dans la seconde. Ce nouveau volume des folles aventures de l’intégrale de la musique de chambre du grand Viennois se poursuit sous l’archet de François Salque et les doigts d’Éric Le Sage, accompagnés avec passion par B Records.

Funereal variations, wild or melancholic waltzes, Hungarian dances with gypsy accents: this is an anthology of Brahmsian aesthetics that beautifully concludes the complete chamber music of the composer on B Records. Théo Fouchenneret and Éric Le Sage give all its colors and contrasts to the too often underestimated repertoire of the four-hand piano. Théo Fouchenneret won First Prize at the Geneva International Competition in November 2018 before being named ‘Instrumental Solo Discovery’ of the year at the Victoires de la Musique Classique. The sensitivity and poetry of his touch but also the maturity of his interpretations are unanimously agreed to distinguish this young French pianist from other performers of his generation. Eric Le Sage is recognized as a musician of rare musical sensitivity, and is established as one of the leading pianists of his generation. He is a highly acclaimed performer of Schumann’s piano music and of chamber music in general, and his deep interest in unknown works has earned him a catalogue of over 50 concertos.

La sua vita sembra perfetta: una famiglia unita e affettuosa, un lavoro per una rivista di moda di successo e un fidanzato stupendo, Nick, con cui convive. Annie ha lavorato duro per arrivare a questo punto. Se in ufficio le affidano un compito, lo svolge con puntualità ed efficienza. Se sua sorella Georgia, in procinto di sposarsi, ha bisogno di lei, non si tira indietro. E se ha il tremendo sospetto che in questo quadro idilliaco ci sia qualche sbavatura? Be', fa finta di niente. Ma, qua e là, nella sua esistenza meticolosamente organizzata, le crepe si allargano.