Raphael Chirbes

Raphael and Peter Wallfisch are simpler in their approach to the five folk-style pieces of Op. 102 than Maisky and Argerich, preferring to let the music speak for itself rather than consciously interpreting it. Certainly Argerich makes her presence felt more boldly than Peter Wallfisch. Even if occasionally over-bold, she is the winner in textural clarity, as also in the more natural-sounding reproduction of her piano by the Philips engineers. Of the two cellists, Raphael Wallfisch is grainier in tone, Maisky more assuagingly liquid.

At the height of the famous Querelle des Bouffons (1754), the elderly Rameau yielded to insistent requests from the Académie Royale de Musique for a major revision of Castor and Pollux, 17 years after the lukewarm reception of its premiere. He deleted the Prologue and made substantial modifications to the dramatic structure, with a completely new first act! But the original has continued to overshadow the revision, unjustly so when one considers the modernity of its orchestration. The inspired direction of Raphaël Pichon shows the extent to which this music heralds the Classical orchestra.

Late sixteenth-century Florence was a theatre: first and foremost a political one, in the eyes of the dynasties that wished to use the arts to display their power. A humanist one too, as is shown by these intermedi (interludes) that sought to achieve the perfect blend between music and poetry, the ideal of a certain Renaissance. Inserted into plays imitating the ancient writers, these entertainments were presented with lavish visual and musical resources. After reaching an initial peak in 1589 with the intermedi composed for Bargagli’s La pellegrina, this tradition was prolonged in the burgeoning genre of opera by such composers as Peri, Caccini (Euridice, 1600) and, very soon, Monteverdi (L’Orfeo) and Gagliano (Dafne).

The critics are highly enthusiastic about the young, successful guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre. "One of the most exciting concert guitarists of his generation," is how Guitar Salon International judges him, while Classical Guitar calls him "a fantastically versatile and sensitive performer." Feuillâtre celebrated his international breakthrough in 2018 as winner of the prestigious international competition of the "Guitar Foundation of America". With his debut on Deutsche Grammophon, he aims to share his love of Baroque music.

After ‘Stravaganza d’amore’, their superb album of late sixteenth-century Florentine music, Raphaël Pichon and Pygmalion return to Italy, this time to Mantua. Here they offer us their reading of one of the peaks of sacred music from this period: Monteverdi’s Vespers. Revealing like no other interpreters the poignant interiority of these pieces, they bring out to the full their inherent sense of theatre. An overwhelming experience.

Une étrange affaire échoit au général Bottando, responsable de la Commission italienne de lutte contre le vol d'objets d'art, et à son bras droit, la jeune Flavia. Jonathan Argyll, étudiant anglais en histoire de l'art, vient d'être arrêté alors qu'il cherchait à pénétrer dans l'église Santa Barbara, près du Campo di Fiori. Argyll proteste et conte une troublante histoire. …

After ‘Stravaganza d’amore’, their superb album of late sixteenth-century Florentine music, Raphaël Pichon and Pygmalion return to Italy, this time to Mantua. Here they offer us their reading of one of the peaks of sacred music from this period: Monteverdi’s Vespers. Revealing like no other interpreters the poignant interiority of these pieces, they bring out to the full their inherent sense of theatre. An overwhelming experience.