Solitaire Suite

A solitaire in French is a single mounted jewel, a concept that seems less than apt for the rather hefty works recorded here by British pianist Kathryn Stott. But this fine recital holds together in another way: Ravel, who so often provides the temporal endpoint for traditional piano recitals, is here, to a greater or lesser extent, the launching point for the other three composers featured. Stott's reading of the neoclassical Le Tombeau de Couperin is beautifully precise and balanced, catching the economy of this Baroque-style suite to the hilt. That economy carries over into the later works, even the rarely performed Piano Sonata of Henri Dutilleux, a work that deftly fuses Ravel's sense of classical forms with a largely dissonant language. The opening Prelude and Fugue of Jehan Alain, actually two separate works that are reasonably enough combined here, is another seldom-played piece that makes an arresting curtain-raiser, and the final "Le baiser de l'Enfant Jésus" of Messiaen, part of the giant Vingt regards sur l'Enfant Jésus, is the splendid climax of the whole, its spiritual, dreamlike ascent at the end superbly controlled. Better still is the sound, recorded at Hallé St. Peters in Manchester: it creates a hypnotic effect all its own.

Bloom Ascension is a resplendent expression of elegant futurism. The rich melodic and rhythmic symmetry of this kaleidoscopic bloom of interlocking electronic music was created specifically for the canvas of time inherent to the LP format. Bloom Ascension‘s spiraling analog synth/sequencer-driven sound conveys vibrant energy and radiant optimism woven into the core of these living, breathing musical mandalas.

J. Teulé se glisse ici dans la peau du père de la poésie moderne, F. Villon. Il met en scène la vie mouvementée du poète, depuis sa naissance le jour où Jeanne d'Arc périt sur un bûcher, jusqu'à sa trente et unième année, où il disparut mystérieusement, orphelin solitaire et vagabond. …

Some artists like to signal their pretension in a subtle way - James Murphy with his “Hello Steve Reich” remix of David Bowie’s “Love Is Lost”, for example. Others, however, just can’t help themselves. Chilly Gonzales (A.K.A Jason Beck) might be fall into the latter camp. His 2015 album, Chambers, has been in gestation since Solo Piano II, the sequel to the acclaimed - and innovatively named - Solo Piano I. This LP is similarly literally titled, as it is, in essence, a 12-track suite for a chamber ensemble - string quartet and piano, to be precise.
If you know anything about our man Gonzales, though, you'll know that things are never quite what they appear when he's around. All genres are permeable for this man: from the '90s indie-rock stylings of his first project Son to the Manic, and surreal rap of The Entertainist, he's pretty much tried it all…

Desmarest was something of a frustrated genius. A precocious musician, he had a great career on opera from 1693 to 1698. His destiny was broken when he kidnapped the love of his life and fled to Brussels to escape a death sentence. Kapellmeister to the King of Spain, Philippe V in 1701, then to the Duke of Lorraine, Paris remained off-limits to him until 1720 … Circé (1694) was his apotheosis, meeting of Ulysses and the sorcerers, a superb and supernatural heroine. The dramatic force of the work stimulates the flamboyant Véronique Gens who plays the evil lover!