Nicolas Medtne

Nicolas Horvath collaborates with composers such as Régis Campo, Denis Levaillant, Jaan Rääts, Tõnu Kõrvits, Alvin Curran, Fabio Mengozzi, William Susman, Alp Durmaz, Andre Bangambula Vindu, Mamoru Fujieda …

Joseph-Hector Fiocco's music is remarkable for its quality, richness of invention and the liveliness that characterizes it all. With a somewhat surprising coherence it achieves a fusion of French and Italian aesthetics, as regards both harmony and melody. His infectious melodies give the listener the impression of knowing them already; singability is always paramount, and the lines are supple and elegant. Now and then a passage is reminiscent of Vivaldi, Pergolesi or Couperin. Yet the firm, inspired pen of Fiocco confirms his stature as a composer of the first order, with a highly personal language full of sensuality and light. Nicolas Achten and Scherzi Musicali deliver a second volume devoted to Fiocco's motets, after a 2011 release which was awarded a Diapason d'or Decouverte and IRR Outstanding.

Hélène de Montgeroult was a student of Clementi in Paris. She survived the French Revolution – during which, as an aristocrat, her life was in grave danger – to become a celebrated pianist, composer and author of a famous piano method. Her compositional language in these nine sonatas is wide and includes Italianate models as well as elements that reflect the influence of Haydn and Mozart, with chromatic and surprising harmonies, contrasts of register, chorale-like nobility and brilliantly athletic finales. Featuring several world première recordings, these sonatas represent a major contribution to the French repertoire of the late Classical and early Romantic periods.

'This programme reflects a personal journey: I am Belgian, I studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and now I live in France. I wanted to present composers from these three countries, taking as my cornerstone the English song repertory and the English language.

Forty years have passed since Gidon Kremer created a little musical oasis in the Austrian town of Lockenhaus in 1981. The violinist’s open-minded attitude has left its mark on this event, which has become a must in the concert calendar, and the cellist Nicolas Altstaedt, who took up the torch in 2012, continues the same philosophy. For this fortieth anniversary, he has decided to call on composers who have come to Lockenhaus or had works performed there in the past ten years.

These motets for one, two and four voices, were composed to augment the repertoire of the choir school of Saint Michel et Sainte Gudule in Brussels, where Fiocco was singing master. Nicolas Achten who directs Scherzi Musicali, found this music “immediately appealing” and hopes that this recording will show the quality of the work of this neglected composer.

Nicolas Horvath, a seasoned champion of long concerts, such as his solo and uninterrupted concerts of Erik Satie's Vexations, is the ideal candidate to embrace the vast range of sounds and thoughts contained in Jean Catoire's minimalist work. (1923-2005).

Célèbre pour son rôle d’agent artistique dans la série télévisée Dix pour Cent, l’acteur et réalisateur Nicolas Maury se lance dans la chanson. Un peu à la manière d’Isabelle Adjani en son temps – Adjani, à qui l’acteur rend un hommage mi moqueur mi respectueux sur la pochette de ce premier album drôle, classe et sensible. Maury est comédien, donc. Un fait qu’il n’essaie pas de camoufler, comme le montre À ma fenêtre le matin, interlude introspectif et parlé qui éclaire avec émotion le thème principal de l’album : tout comme Maxence/Jacques Perrin dans Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, Nicolas Maury part à la recherche de l’idéal masculin en chansons. Submergé de cordes hollywoodiennes oniriques et tragiques, l’album dessine petit à petit un personnage impliqué dans une quête à la fois désespérée et enivrante, autant passionné par les sentiments que par l’amour physique (Blouson noir, Avec lui).

An unusual artist with an unconventional résumé, pianist and electroacoustic composer Nicolas Horvath is known for his boundariesless musical explorations.