ARTISTS
Les Percussions de Strasbourg
Ju Percussion Group (Taiwan)

TRACKLISTING
01.        Maraé                                                                                     [17'20]
pour six percussions amplifiées et bande magnétique (1974)
02.        Aera                                                                                        [18'40]
pour 6 percussions   (1978)
03.             Khnoum                                                                                 [16'20]
pour échantillonneur Akaï S1000 et cinq percussions (1990)
04.        Le printemps du serpent*                                                          [15'11]
pour 12 percussions (2001)

Ambient music

Maraé, Aera, Khnoum, Le Printemps du serpent... Four pieces that evoke exotic settings and represent the majority of the works for percussion by François-Bernard Mâche.

The album appears as an invitation to travel...

Maraé plunges us into the heart of a marine universe: the sea, the wind, the echo of a grotto...   Then, Aera carries us into the airs, gradually lifting us into an atmosphere of spirituality to the sound of gongs, tam-tam and chimes before reaching Khnoum , a veritable Oriental sacred ritual.

Le Printemps du serpent brings us back to Nature... gradually the mind comes back to earth, rocked by natural sounds like raindrops, melodious birdsong, an atmosphere that is strange yet imbued with well-being, described by gongs and distant bells, finally ending its journey against a background of rain and strom ...

A limpid sound palette as if you were there!

François-Bernard Mâche has travelled the world over. Les Percussions de Strasbourg continue to have a great international influence... The participation of the Ju Percussion Group of Taiwan comes within the tradition of the musical development of Les Percussions de Strasbourg, i.e., exploring sound universes of varied ethnic origins in order to give them a meaning that is not only contemporary but also universal.

ARTISTS
Olivier Latry
Nicole Corti   Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris
John Nelson   Ensemble Orchestral de Paris

TRACKLISTING
1.          Debout sur le Soleil Opus 8 (1989-91)                                                                    [27'35]
Chant de Résurrection pour grand orgue sur le « Miserere » de Jacques Leclercq
Olivier Latry, great organ of Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris
2.             Asmarâ Opus 9 (1991-92)                                                                                              [19'01]
Melt'ân pour choeur mixte a capella sur le psaume VIII éthiopien
Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris   Nicole Corti, conducting
3.          Qsar Ghilâne Opus 18                                                                                                         [21'02]            Poème symphonique
Ensemble Orchestral de Paris   John Nelson, conducting

An oasis of sound on the borderline of world music

This is the fruit of a moving homage paid in January 2005 at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, by friends and renowned musicians to composer-ethnomusicologist Jean-Louis Florentz, who died on 4 July 2004.

A veritable musical triptych featuring the organ (Debout sur le Soleil), a cappella choir (Asmarâ) and orchestra (Qsar Ghilâne).

ARTISTS
Claire-Marie Le Guay
Liège Philharmonic Orchestra
Louis Langrée, conducting

TRACKLISTING
Piano Concerto in G major (1929-1931)
1. I. Allegramente                                                             8'18
2. II. Adagio assai                                                                 8'43
3. III. Presto                                                                           3'54

Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major (1929-1930)
4. Lent - Andante - Allegro - Tempo 1                                               18'03

Erwin SCHULHOFF (1894-1942)
Concerto for piano and small orchestra N°2, opus 43 WV 66 (1923)
5. Molto sostenuto - Alla marcia maestoso - Molto allegro           5'43
6. Sostenuto - Molto sostenuto eastrattamente                            7'42
7. Allegro alla jazz - Subito sostenuto, ma alla breve. Alla zingaresca
- Tempo I (Allegro molto) alla breve - Prestissimo                                6'17

An album alla Jazz

Now, following her recording of the two Liszt Concertos in 2002, Claire-Marie Le Guay gives us her interpretation of concertos by Ravel and Schulhoff. Between the Liège Philharmonic Orchestra, its conductor, Louis Langrée, and the pianist, the osmosis is manifest.

Commissioned by pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who had lost his right arm during the First World War, the Concerto for the Left Hand remains a rare and remarkable work. As for the Concerto in G , it reveals a highly pronounced taste for jazz. In fact, Ravel composed it following his voyage to the Unites States; might one see therein an influence of his meeting Gershwin in 1928? A marvellous moment of Ravel's music featuring varied rhythmic schemes, humour and casualness.

Schulhoff's Concerto No.2 also lies within this lineage with its borrowings from jazz. Long unrecognised, the work is now enjoying renewed interest that is amply justified.

ARTISTS
Liège Philharmonic Orchestra
Louis Langrée, conducting

TRACKLISTING
César FRANCK (1822-1890)
Symphony in D minor (1888)
1. I. Lento - Allegro non troppo                           17'55
2. II. Allegretto                                                 10'10
3. III. Allegro non troppo                                10'42

Ernest CHAUSSON (1855-1899)
Symphony in B-flat, opus 20 (1892)
4. I. Lento - Alle gro vivo                               11'37
5. II. Très lent                                                    8'58
6. III. Animé                                                      11'43

Two major works of French music brought together for Louis Langrée's first symphonic album

The Franck and Chausson Symphonies are close in that they are part of the vast symphonic renewal movement that took place in France towards the end of the 19 th century. Here, the Liège Philharmonic Orchestra enables us to rediscover the full modernity of a century-old work: the Symphony in D minor. This admirable work interpreted is given a fine, vigilant and effective reading by maestro Louis Langrée. Whereas some find the work dated, they will change their mind upon hearing this recording!

ARTISTS
Claude Helffer, piano

ARTISTS
Karl Ristenpart, conducting

ARTISTS
André Navarra, cello
Pierre Sancan, piano

ARTISTS
Reine Gianoli, piano
George Sebastian, conducting

ARTISTS
Jean Doyen, piano
Jean Fournet, conducting

ARTISTS
Ensemble Baroque de Nice, Gilbert Bezzina

Albinoni (1671-1751), with his Climene, a serenade for three voices and orchestra written in 1718, shows us the range of his art in depicting feelings, an art marked by elegance and sweetness, revealed by Gilbert Bezzina and his Baroque Ensemble of Nice.

ARTISTS
Martin Derungs

The music of Della Ciaja (1671-1755) is certainly marked by the 17 th -century Italian keyboard school but also reveals continual invention with its flamboyance, sense of colours and varied rhythms.

ARTISTS
Ensemble Stradivaria, Daniel Cuiller

The music of Hasse (1699-1783), characterised by a nobility that is already Classical, is an ideal front door to the music of the young Haydn and Mozart. It is very well served by Daniel Cuiller's Stradivaria ensemble.

ARTISTS
Le Parlement de Musique, Martin Gester

ARTISTS
Charles Limouse

Vivaldi (1678-1741) offers us a pleasant walk in the country with the Concertos for Sopranino, like a reflection of birdsong and the rustling of Nature.

ARTISTS
Hugo Reyne
La Simphonie du Marais

What woman, however wise, what nymph, however faithful, would remain so when the king of the gods distinguishes her and comes down from Olympus to her?