Deshayes

Plunge into the depths of the most emblematic duos in the repertoire with two fantastic singers, Karine Deshayes and Delphine Haidan, accompanied by the pianist Johan Farjot. Winners of multiple awards at the Victoires de la Musique and presented on the most prestigious international stages, this release by Klarthe is not to be missed!

Karine Deshayes, one of today's most remarkable interpreters of Mozart together with the vocal and instrumental ensemble Les Paladins, gives an outstanding performance in this program of his sacred and secular works, in which the motet Exsultate, jubilate! Forms the centrepiece. Her rich, full-bodied voice taps directly into the roots of this highly virtuosic piece, originally written for a powerful, resonant soprano castrato tessitura. Conducted by Jérôme Corréas, the musicians complete the program with a selection of early pieces by Mozart: several of his (unjustly underrated) Church Sonatas, his Symphony No. 17, a poetic Agnus Dei from the Vespers, and excerpts from the all too rarely heard Davide penintente and La Betulia liberata. Through his attention to contrast and his concern for expressivity, the conductor reveals the underlying theatricality of these works, unparalleled in their dramatic power.

In contrast to his first two quartets, the third quartet, which Marteau composed towards the end of the First World War, is of a completely different nature and presents itself as a strongly biographical work, to which Marteau wrote in 1918: "My new String Quartet No. 3 was composed under the impression of the terrible events of which my wife was the innocent victim. There are sections of life, parts of the soul, which express themselves in this piece. The Scherzo is a Viennese mood piece, memories of the city in which we felt so comfortable and happy." But he also processed in this largely melancholy quartet that he was no longer in demand or wanted as a violinist. The CD is supplemented with the "Eight Songs with String Quartet Accompaniment," op. 10 speak, written in 1905. In these songs Marteau is far ahead of his time, because it is the first string quartet of its kind in which the human voice also has its say. Until then, the string quartet was considered the royal genre of pure, abstract and absolute music. Marteau is the first composer to establish completely new connections between the strings and the voice, which is quite fascinating and has not yet been properly appreciated by music history.

Gabriel Fauré originally wrote his song cycle, La Bonne chanson, for voice and piano, but a few years after its 1894 premiere he created a version with string quintet and piano. He later questioned the wisdom of having made the arrangement, thinking perhaps he was gilding the lily by adding even more sumptuous timbral richness to a work that was already so melodically and harmonically sensuous. Few listeners are likely to complain about his arrangement, though, particularly when it is performed as well as it is here, with mezzo-soprano Karine Deshayes and members of Ensemble Contraste. Deshayes has a relatively light lyric voice that still has enough fullness to put across the romantic ardor of the music and the poetry.

Although much acclaimed at the time of its premiere in 1890, César Franck’s quartet is rarely played or recorded; here it is at the centre of this third album by the Quatuor Zaïde, who have repeatedly pursued an original and ambitious discography off the beaten path.

Works by Gabriel Fauré and Richard Wagner aren't usually mentioned in the same breath, though an astute listener will easily understand why they are brought together for this late Romantic program. The lush and atmospheric harmonies and languorous melodies of Fauré's Pelléas et Mélisande, the Élégie, and his songs sort well with the benign lyricism and yearning chromaticism of Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, a serenade based on themes from the music drama, Siegfried. Indeed, this album demonstrates how pervasive Wagner's influence was, that even the classically calm and composed Fauré could not resist its expressive possibilities.