Violon au féminin - Compositrices françaises
Pauline VIARDOT (1821-1910)
Six morceaux pour violon et piano (189?) [18:57]
Mel BONIS (1858-1937)
Suite pour violon et piano Op.114 (1926) [15:21]
Lili BOULANGER (1893-1918)
Nocturne (1911) [2:49]
Cortège (1914) [1:32]
D'un matin de printemps (1918) [4:50]
Chrystel MARCHAND (b.1958)
Une hymne (1999) [5:48]
Cécile CHAMINADE (1857-1944)
Sérénade Op.29 (1884) [2:45]
Capriccio Op.18 (1890) [4:49]
Gavotte Op.9 (1880) [2:03]
Les sylvains Op.60 (1892 arr. 1923) [4:12]
Mel BONIS (1858-1937)
Sérénade Op.46 (1899) [3:32]
Germaine TAILLEFERRE (1892-1983)
Sicilienne (1928?) [3:21]
Berceuse (1913) [2:29]
Sara Chenal (violin), Jean-Pierre Ferey (piano)
rec. 2014, La Grange, Studio Alys, Les Villarons, Manteyer, France
SKARBO DSK4150A CD/DVD [72:33 + 49:17]
Quite why this disc has taken the best part of five years from recording to reach a reviewer's list I do not know, as it proves to be an excellent recording in every respect - fascinating and rare repertoire performed with real flair, skill and sensitivity. Violinist Sara Chenal and pianist Jean-Pierre Ferey make a very accomplished team but what I especially enjoyed was the absolute 'rightness' of the musical approach; Chenal plays this repertoire with an unerring sense of style and variety as well as considerable technique and personality. Likewise, Ferey is an ideal accompanist, knowing when to take centre ground and when to support - all backed up with a similarly impressive technique and musical insight.
Ferey also contributes the informative and useful liner. My only quibble would be his contention that as women, the composers represented here focused on smaller scale/chamber forms as they were unlikely to gain access to the sexist/male preserves of the opera house or symphony concert. I would suggest try telling that to the likes of Ethyl Smyth. Also, the complete absence of the prospect of a performance did not daunt either a Charles Ives or a Havergal Brian. I also wonder whether by making this about the "feminine violin", this special pleading risks ghettoising music which in fact is of the very highest calibre regardless of gender or anything else. Of the six composers represented, three were familiar; one - Mel Bonis - I know through sheet music I own, and the other two were new to me. Of the latter, Pauline Viardot's Six Morceaux open the programme. The liner includes useful biographical details about each composer and clearly Viardot was remarkable; sister of the famous sing La Malibran, she studied piano with Liszt and harmony with Reicha and was a famous singer herself. She performed in concert with Berlioz and Chopin amongst others, while Brahms, Schumann, Meyerbeer, Saint-Säens, Gounod and Fauré all composed for her. If that were not enough, this suite of six contrasting pieces is an absolute charmer. Without doubt, this was written for the salon with the titles alone giving a good sense of the contrast between movements alternating between lyrical, song-like pieces and characterful, energetic dances. In the slow movements, Ferey makes the valid point that Viardot's writing shows the unmistakeable influence of song. I cannot praise Chenal's playing too highly. The right style in this seemingly simple music can be elusive, with some players mistaking it for febrile vibrato, scooping portamenti and lapsing into the sentimental. Chenal finds an ideal balance between the sweetly lyrical and the subtly expressive. Conversely, in the dance movements she is willing to let the listener hear the bite of her bow on string with her playing having an exuberant attack and dynamic élan - the closing Tarantelle is the most overtly virtuosic piece in the set and brings it to an exhilarating conclusion. Of all the works on the album, this is the one where the pianist's role is most specifically one of accompanying, but even here Ferey is a model sophisticated understatement – and worth mentioning at this point is the very fine engineering, too, which places both instruments in a sympathetic acoustic with an ideal balance between them.
Mel Bonis was about a generation younger than Viardot and was clearly a prolific composer, the Suite recorded here being her Op.114. This is all the more remarkable given her background which, again, is usefully outlined in the liner. The Suite is a relatively late work composed when she was in her late sixties. For sure, it shows the influence of the Impressionist composers but this is an impressive and significant work. Both technically and musically the demands are greater than in the Viardot and the status of the keyboard writing is raised to that of equal musical partner. Again, I noted the supple pliancy of Chenal's playing and the sheer range of her tonal colouring. This is especially valuable in the Bonis Suite where each movement covers a wider musical and emotional range than the attractive picture postcard snapshots of the Viardot. Bonis gives each of the movements a picturesque title; Holiday, Under the leafy boughs and Rustic procession. However, as Ferey says in his liner, the music is subtler and more complex than these titles may imply. Drawing a comparison with Debussy's Iberia from the orchestral Images evokes similar countryside scenes but with an equally impressionistic sensibility. The easy clarity of the playing from both Chenal and Ferey is an absolute delight, as is the seamless flow between the changing moods of the music. The central movement is the longest single piece or movement on the entire disc and it is a beautifully achieved study in simple textures and lyrical writing. Chenal adapts the speed and degree of her vibrato with great skill and sophistication. Bonis' handling of tonality is fascinating too - there is a fluidity to her harmony that gives the music a sense of floating lightness that is very beautiful. The closing Rustic procession is more overtly virtuosic, although none of the music on this disc is written primarily as a vehicle for technical display.
Of all the composers represented here it would probably be fair to say that Lili Boulanger had the greatest natural talent and her death at the age of just 25 robbed French music of one of its most promising 20th Century exponents. The three pieces recorded here are the most familiar of all the works in this programme. The Nocturne is an absolute gem and receives the finest performance I have heard. Chenal's pacing is just perfect and again, the way she varies the weight of her tone through bow speed and pressure as well as intensity/speed of vibrato is ideal. Likewise, Cortège bubbles along and the interaction between piano and violin is perfection. There follows, after Boulanger's D'un matin de printemps, a work by a living composer; Chrystel Marchand's Une hymne. This is another attractive, reflective work whose spirit, although it was written as recently as 1999, is allied to the earlier works.
In her lifetime Cécile Chaminade was very famous indeed, to a degree which slightly undermines the conjecture in the liner about the women composers struggling to achieve credibility in their own right. It does come as something as a surprise that she lived as long as until 1944, because her music - and the pieces played here are representative of her style in general - has the easy harmonic and melodic flow which harks back to the 19th century salon rather than the more elusive settings of Boulanger or Bonis. That said, these are still genuinely attractive pieces, played with all the insights and sensibility evidenced throughout this programme. Listen to the easy seductive swaying of the Capriccio Op.18. This sort of music has no pretensions for depth or emotional weight, so it needs to be played as well as it is here for its impact. Much the same can be said of the two works by Germaine Tailleferre which complete the disc. They are beautifully gentle, reflective pieces with the closing Berceuse an especially attractive envoi. Again, I appreciate the way Chenal and Ferey do not try to find sentiment where it does not exist. Instead we are given a balanced flow of gentle melody with many of the virtues of this disc, artistically, technically and in production terms, crystallised into a disarming two and a half minutes.
As a bonus, this disc comes with an accompanying DVD which is interesting to watch once, as it allows both violinist and pianist to discuss the composers featured here and in so doing underlines their belief and commitment in the music and the people who wrote it. There is a general introduction to the concept behind the disc followed by a chapter on each composer and a performance of one of the works also featured on the CD. The sound recording on the DVD is good, although some of the close-ups of the players as they perform are distractingly close even if for a violinist it is interesting to be able to see Chenal's technique so clearly. The DVD is all in French with the option of English subtitles. Interestingly, it explains that it was Chenal's discovery of the music of Boulanger and Bonis that led her to create an entire programme of diverse music which this disc achieves very successfully. That said, it is also clear that the Boulanger and Bonis works are the most impressive music here.
In every respect this is a very impressive and successful disc. This is music of real quality and interest, played with superb technical address and artistic sensitivity.
Nick Barnard
