Frederic Chopin
(1810-1849) met the writer George Sand (Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin), in1836,
at the home of Franz Liszt and Marie d'Agoult. He was 26 years old and she 32. She
had married François Casimir Dudevant (1795–1871), the illegitimate son of Baron
Jean-François Dudevant, in 1822. They had two children, Maurice (1823–1889) and
Solange (1828–1899). Something of a free spirit, in early 1831, she left her
husband, having many liaisons including a tempestuous affair with writer and
poet Alfred de Musset (1810-1857). In 1835, she was legally separated from
Dudevant and took her children with her.
George Sand spent her childhood and adolescence at the
family house in Nohant in the province of Berry south of the Loire Valley in
France. The house lies in a region of gentle hills with wooded hilltops. Dating
from the late eighteenth century it was built for the governor of Vierzon and
acquired in 1793 by Madame Dupin de Francueil, the grandmother of George Sand. Most
of her writing was done at the house which she had inherited from her
grandmother. There she received guests such as Liszt and Marie d'Agoult, Honoré
de Balzac, Chopin and Flaubert. The painter Eugène Delacroix had a studio
there. The estate is today a property of the nation and run by the Centre des monuments
nationaux. http://maison-george-sand.monuments-nationaux.fr
.
Sand and Chopin spent long summers there from 1839 to 1846 and
it was at Nohant that the composer wrote many of his works. It was to Nohant
that Sand and Chopin went after their ill-fated trip to Majorca where they
experienced appalling weather and Chopin’s tuberculosis worsened.
The relationship between Chopin and Sand, always volatile,
broke down following an argument concerning Sand’s daughter, Solange, Chopin’s
favourite of Sand’s two children. There is much speculation over the exact
cause but it certainly related to the 18 year old daughter’s choice between two
suitors. Chopin died two years later, on October 17, 1849, in Paris. George
Sand died June 8, 1876 and is buried in the family cemetery in the grounds of
the château.
It is the music
written during Chopin’s last summer at Nohant in 1846 that is the focus of a
new release from Harmonia Mundi www.harmoniamundi.com
with
cellist Emmanuelle Bertrand www.emmanuelle-bertrand.com
and
pianist Pascal Amoyel www.pascal-amoyel.com
.
 |
| HMC 902199 |
Pascal Amoyel brings a lovely sensibility to Chopin’s Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60 with
lovely shaping of phrases and just the right tempo, a kind of gentle rocking
motion. He has a fine touch providing some lovely limpid, silken phrases and fine
textures with many shades and colours.
There are many fine details in the B major Mazurka No. 1 of the Three Mazurkas, Op.63. No. 2 in
F minor brings a calmer rhythmic pulse, gentle yet beautifully projected
forward with No. 3 in C sharp minor beautifully
poised yet finding the subtle rhythmic forward pulse.
Cellist Emmanuelle Bertrand joins Pascal Amoyel for
the Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op.65 with
a beautifully restrained Allegro Moderato
that has a fine natural balance between the two instruments. Emmanuelle
Bertrand slowly pulls more power from the music, both these artists finding
many subtleties with this cellist providing some fine textures and timbres as
the movement progresses. Midway there is a magical moment as the music pauses with
gentle phrases from the piano before the cello gently enters; a quite lovely section.
Later both of these artists bring a terrific sweep and breadth with some very
fine moments from Amoyel. These two make a terrific duo, both bringing a real passion
to this music.
The Scherzo: Allegro
Con Brio brings some fine interplay between these artists with terrific
control, rubato and sense of rhythmic subtly. At times these two players bring
a lovely singing quality to the music. Emmanuelle Bertrand brings the most
exquisite, deep rich, glowing textures to the Largo, glorious playing, with Amoyel providing a gently supportive
flow: superb.
There is a wonderfully
characterised Finale: Allegro with lovely
sonorous double stopping from this cellist against some superbly fluent phrases
from Amoyel. Bertrand provides some beautifully
chosen rubato before these players move swiftly and deftly to the coda. A
performance that makes one want to stand and applaud.
Pascal Amoyel returns for Chopin’s Waltzes, Op.64 with
No. in D flat major, the famous Minute Waltz receiving a finely fluent
yet clearly considered performance with this pianist never missing a detail or
nuance. There is a beautifully poised performance of No. 2 in C sharp minor with Amoyel finding just the right rhythmic
pulse and fine care of dynamics, not to mention a subtle, gentle rubato. No. 3 in A flat major finds Amoyel again,
setting just right the tempo and pulse with the subtlest and gentlest of rubato.
Really lovely.
Amoyel reveals all the strange little phrases and intervals
in the Mazurka Op. 67, No. 4 in A minor
with halting gentle rhythms that are just right, creating an uncertain feel.
Finally we come to the
Two Nocturnes, Op.62 with No. 1 in B
major receiving such fluent, delicate exquisite playing. There is something
that is indefinable that makes this very fine Chopin playing indeed. Amoyel
brings a kind of improvisatory yet wholly thought out approach making phrases
seem unexpected. With No. 2 in E major, again Amoyel reveals
just what is so special in these late works. There is a thoughtfulness, the
most wonderful twists and turns, all beautifully laid out in playing of such
fine sensitivity, fluency and style. After the quieter, beautifully conceived
coda it was difficult to break the spell.
These performances are very fine indeed. Had I attended a
recital of this quality I would have gone away thrilled. As it is one can
return to it as often as one wishes. This is a release not to be missed.
These two fine artists are recorded in a lovely acoustic
with just the right amount of air around the instruments, very clear and
detailed with a lovely piano tone. There are excellent booklet notes with a
reproduction of Delacroix’s painting of the garden at Nohant on the cover just
to complete this fine issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment