Dutilleux

If this premiere recording of Stephen Hough’s String Quartet No 1 may be regarded as definitive—the work is dedicated to the Takács Quartet—those of the quartets by Ravel and Dutilleux are no less distinguished.

Victor Julien-Laferrière, winner in 2017 of the first Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium dedicated to the cello, presents here two French works for cello and orchestra: Outscape by Pascal Dusapin: "The title itself carries the musical project (…) a word rich in meaning that indicates a variety of meanings from the most common to the most philosophical. “Outscape” is the way or opportunity to escape, to invent a path of one's own. I liked this word because it is basically like a summary of the history of my work."

The French composer Henri Dutilleux has long been acknowledged as among the leading figures of his generation. This complete collection of his solo piano works includes his only large-scale work for the instrument, the brilliant Piano Sonata.
In 2004, at the age of 18, the Malaysian-born pianist John Chen became the youngest ever winner of the Sydney International Piano Competition. The previous year he won the Lev Vlassenko Australasian Piano Competition, where he swept all the special prizes.

ATMA Classique is pleased to present Femmes de légende, the solo debut album by pianist Élisabeth Pion, featuring works by three giants of the 20th century, Debussy, Dutilleux, and Boulanger, along with “Femmes de légende” by late-Romantic composer Mel (Mélanie) Bonis, and the “Berceuse” from opera The Exterminating Angel by Thomas Adès.

As the sensual centrepiece of an album of 20th century French vocal masterpieces, Renée Fleming makes her first-ever recording of Ravel’s ravishing Shéhérazade.