Laborie [France] LC12, 78:29, DDD
For me, among the most intriguing and unusual of the Romantic-period composers is Félicien David, [1810-1876], who is chiefly remembered more for his participation in the Saint-Simonian movement, which annotator Ralph P. Locke (Rochester, NY) calls "a utopian-socialist movement that promoted the rights of the working class of women," that his music. For me, it's the other way around. When I first a now deleted recording (Capriccio/Germany) of his ode-symphony, Le Désert, I was smitten. Yes, there's the coloratura gem, "Charmant oiseau" of his 1851 opera, Le Perle du Brésil, which fares well on records, but little else is known. I have tried to obtain anything and everything I can find on discs by David. The one illustrated above is truly a find and, near as I know, may be first recordings of his chamber music, at least on CD.
The disc is called "Le Souvenir" and pays tribute to Félicien David with works offered by his contemporaries, including Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881), Philippe Musard (1792-1859), and Sebastian Lee (1805-1887). The bigger works are by David himself, and include his Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major for Piano, Violin and Cello, and his Quartet No. 3 in D Minor. Also to be heard are other chamber pieces, including his romance for piano, "L'absence," and his "Souvenir" for Cello and Piano, plus a melody, "Pensée" for solo piano and "La caprice" for Cello and Piano, all more than mere delightful music salon pleasers. The illustrate the unique genius of a composer who was deeply influenced by Hector Berlioz, for example.
The piece by Vieuxtemps, "La nuit" (Night) was transcribed from David's Le Désert, while Musard's piece, "Valse de Lalla-Roukh" and Lee's "Souvenir d'Herculanum" were written as salon pieces from David's operas, though now, they come off as being much finer than mere salon pieces as well.
What makes this beautifully recorded disc even more stunning is the use of an 1850 Erard grand piano in the David Piano Trio No. 1, the Vieuxtemps piece, and "Pensée" by David. A "pianino" (Kunz) from 1845 is heard in David's "La caprice," all performed by pianist Jean-Jacques Dünki. Christophe Coin is the cellist playing an instrument from 1720, all with the Baroque Ensemble of Limoges. In the David Third Quartet in D Minor, we hear the Mosaics Quartet, all highly gifted artists who are obviously totally enjoying playing this rarely heard music, and performing on all-Baroque period instruments. The 1850 Erard piano (6¾ octaves) as well as the 1845 pianino (6½ octaves), have an almost more consistent sound of contemporary grand piano (yes, even the pianino, considerably smaller, looking like a 45-inch upright piano), and are recorded realistically and well balanced with other performers in the chamber pieces. Photos of the keyboards are included in the booklet.
This is a gate-fold type of recording with the most unusual CD sleeve I have yet seen in a CD container. I would suspect considerable expense was given to this production, which also contains a beautiful color paining of Félicien David, as shown above. (My first thought was that he looked like Chopin.) The accompanying booklet is well written by Eastman School of Music (Rochester NY) professor Ralph P. Locke. There is a notation on the CD notes that a full booklet is available online. However, when attempting to download the PDF file, the site recommended would never present itself to me. After reading what Locke wrote in the brief booklet, I was sure I would enjoy what he had to say in the downloaded article. Such was not to be.
Otherwise, an highly interesting disc to discover! Well recommended. ♫
