Diapason 2025

Many thanks to Bertrand Boissard and Laurent Muraro for sifting through Ravel's piano recordings. In Gaspard de la nuit, Bertrand Boissard chose Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli in concert in Prague on 29 May 1960, a performance he described as ‘by far the most devastating, much faster and more committed than in London in 1959, and perhaps the most impressive of all’. In Le Tombeau de Couperin, the second set his sights on Samson François in 1958 for ‘his unbridled imagination, and what a Toccata, my God!

The 177th volume of the Diapason's definitive series! A collection of Dvorak's chamber music!

The 177th volume of the Diapason's definitive series! A collection of Dvorak's chamber music!

Claudio Arrau A patrician artist whose matinee-idol appearance was as elegant as his playing, Claudio Arrau achieved a major reputation for his performances of Brahms and Liszt. Indeed, few Romantic-period composers, from Beethoven onward, were beyond his grasp. In addition to that repertory, his Debussy was regarded by many connoisseurs as exemplary. Arrau believed that his abiding interest in psychoanalysis aided him in probing the intent of those whose works he performed. Certainly, Arrau's performances were marked by a balance between heart and intellect. Arrau was born in Chillán, Chile, on February 6, 1903.

A troupe where everyone acts as much as they sing, illuminated by a dream trial (Bourvil!) and the devilish gesture of Cluytens, set the standard for the Tales in 1948. Offenbach having died before having finished and ordered the score of his Tales of Hoffmann, it was Ernest Guiraud who was tasked with making it “viable”. In February 1881, the first spectators discovered a largely mutilated work: in addition to significant cuts in the prologue and the epilogue (which take place in a Nuremberg tavern), the entire last act – that of Giulietta, the Venetian courtesan, in whose home the poet has his reflection stolen – had been discarded. Only the Barcarolle survived, slipped between the acts of Olympia (the mechanical doll who ends up smashed) and Antonia (the young consumptive who dies from having sung). In 1907, the score published by Éditions Choudens transformed the spoken dialogues into recitatives (composed by Guiraud), inserted the air “Scintille diamant” (added by Gunsbourg) and restored Giulietta’s act, admittedly condensed and inserted between those of Olympia and Antonia. It is this version that Les Contes d’Hoffmann, recorded in March 1948, document. The disc preceded their revival at the Salle Favart, in a staging directed by Louis Musy and under the quicksilver baton of André Cluytens. The cast brings together a “troupe” welded together by the spirit of the theatre, the relief and colour of the word: everyone here plays as much as they sing.

A troupe where everyone acts as much as they sing, illuminated by a dream trial (Bourvil!) and the devilish gesture of Cluytens, set the standard for the Tales in 1948. Offenbach having died before having finished and ordered the score of his Tales of Hoffmann, it was Ernest Guiraud who was tasked with making it “viable”. In February 1881, the first spectators discovered a largely mutilated work: in addition to significant cuts in the prologue and the epilogue (which take place in a Nuremberg tavern), the entire last act – that of Giulietta, the Venetian courtesan, in whose home the poet has his reflection stolen – had been discarded. Only the Barcarolle survived, slipped between the acts of Olympia (the mechanical doll who ends up smashed) and Antonia (the young consumptive who dies from having sung). In 1907, the score published by Éditions Choudens transformed the spoken dialogues into recitatives (composed by Guiraud), inserted the air “Scintille diamant” (added by Gunsbourg) and restored Giulietta’s act, admittedly condensed and inserted between those of Olympia and Antonia. It is this version that Les Contes d’Hoffmann, recorded in March 1948, document. The disc preceded their revival at the Salle Favart, in a staging directed by Louis Musy and under the quicksilver baton of André Cluytens. The cast brings together a “troupe” welded together by the spirit of the theatre, the relief and colour of the word: everyone here plays as much as they sing.

Claudio Arrau A patrician artist whose matinee-idol appearance was as elegant as his playing, Claudio Arrau achieved a major reputation for his performances of Brahms and Liszt. Indeed, few Romantic-period composers, from Beethoven onward, were beyond his grasp. In addition to that repertory, his Debussy was regarded by many connoisseurs as exemplary. Arrau believed that his abiding interest in psychoanalysis aided him in probing the intent of those whose works he performed. Certainly, Arrau's performances were marked by a balance between heart and intellect. Arrau was born in Chillán, Chile, on February 6, 1903.

In the beginning was tonality. Then came atonality which was revolutionary. Tonality continued in folk music and popular music, in spite of atonality, but in the case of serious composers, it was taboo to even think of writing tonal on pain of being ignored and unperformed.

Highly praised by the world’s leading magazine Gramophone as an artist with “both nerve and unusual pianistic assurance”, the OPUS KLASSIK nominated Young Steinway Artist Yi Lin Jiang immediately caught the international music world’s attention with the release of his debut album “Masques” and was rewarded with a nomination for the prestigious German Record Critics' Award within the same season.

Le temps des lilas is an ode to Romanticism, a love song and a nostalgic reflection on the bittersweet beauty of lost happiness. Dedicated to the music of Ernest Chausson, this album oscillates between passion and melancholy, wonder and nostalgia.