Thibaut Maurisse

Ah la Suisse ! Ses montagnes, son air pur, son chocolat et ses banques. En Suisse, les salaires les plus bas tournent autour des 3 000 €, il n’y a quasiment pas de chômage, et puis c’est propre et l’on s’y sent en sécurité. Les hommes politiques ont l’air moins corrompus qu’ailleurs et la population bénéfi cie d’une démocratie directe grâce aux votations.Ce serait presque le paradis. Presque…
Parce que, si on y regarde de plus près, on constate que les Français qui vivent là-bas sont victimes d’un sentiment diffus, qui n’ose pas dire son nom : le racisme ? …

“Vox humana” or “Vox celestis”? For César Franck (1822-1890) the one is often a metaphor for the other; whether in sacred or secular vein, spirituality is inherent in all his vocal music, even the most modest of his choral works. Certain of these form the focus of attention in this first recording. They remain unpublished; were they perhaps thought to be of lesser worth for having originated in a religious or private celebration or in response to a publisher’s commission? We should remember that it was often the specific circumstances that provided Franck with the stimulus necessary for the realization of some of his masterpieces. Be that as it may, listening to these choral works offers the listener some delightful discoveries.

Another facet of Berlioz! We may find it hard to imagine that the composer of such epics as Les Troyens started out as a guitarist… and that his first compositional experience was to transcribe songs, inherited from the Ancien Regime, for voice and guitar.The particular instrument that was given to Berlioz by Paganini survives to this day; here it brings us closer to the repertoire suitable for a musicale hosted by Berlioz: airs for voice and guitar, but also art songs (a genre which the composer pioneered), along with chamber music and pieces for solo piano. Another way of listening to Berlioz!