Marie Jaëll - Musique symphonique & Musique pour piano - Portraits Volume 3 (2016) {3CD Palazetto Bru Zane-Ediciones Singular}

Marie Jaëll probably represents the most authoritative and accomplished expression of the nineteenth-century woman musician. In spite of her coming from the provinces and despite the heavy social restrictions imposed on artists of her gender, she nonetheless succeeded in being recognized as a virtuoso, a composer and as a teacher. Support from her husband – the Austrian pianist Alfred Jaëll – greatly contributed to the positive reception of her initial works for the piano, but it was by herself, armed with her talent and her resolve in the latter part of her life, that she faced up to the Parisian hurly-burly in which she proved herself to be one of its distinctive figures. While her learning method is still taught in various different countries, little interest thus far has been shown in her music, which in the greater part is held in the Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire in Strasbourg. Formidable and ambitious symphonic works are revealed on this book-cd as well as a significant facet of her compositions for the piano.

This ‘Portrait’ of Marie Jaëll is designed to augment her existing discography with world première recordings of the foremost works by the composer. An important section of her symphonic output is in particular to be discovered here, most notably her Cello Concerto and her Piano Concerto no 2 in C minor, the latter a mature work the interest of which is more than able to vie with the well-known pieces of the repertory. La Légende des ours – a cycle of six humorous mélodies scored for soprano and orchestra – reveals a remarkable theatrical sensitivity which allows one to glimpse what Marie Jaëll might have achieved with her sole projected opera, Runéa, regrettably unfinished. However, this book-cd does not overlook the fact that first of all Marie Jaëll became a virtuoso pianist, and was attentive to expression as much as she was to keyboard dexterity. The two decidedly intimate cycles Les Jours pluvieux and Les Beaux Jours can be readily compared alongside Schumann’s Kinderszenen, whilst the more experimental selections taken from Ce qu’on entend… demonstrate the composer’s almost scientific side, working on the sound and its projection in an almost entirely melodic form of asceticism.

Qobuz INFO

Personnel:
piano
David Bismuth, Dana Ciocarlie
Lidija & Sanja Bizjak,
Romain Descharmes, Nicolas Stavy, David Violi

Chantal Santon-Jeffery, soprano
Xavier Phillips, violoncelle

Brussels Philharmonic
Hervé Niquet, direction

Orchestre National de Lille
Joseph Swensen, direction



tracklist:
cd i [55:16]

La Légende des ours

01 Folies d’ours 3:04
02 Amour brûlant 4:37
03 Désirs ardents 4:48
04 Amour involontaire 4:10
05 Union malheureuse 5:15
06 Épilogue 2:35

Chantal Santon-Jeffery, soprano
Brussels Philharmonic –
Hervé Niquet, direction


Concerto pour Violoncelle et Orchestre en Fa majeur

07 Allegro moderato 6:46
08 Andantino sostenuto 4:49
09 Vivace molto 4:37

Xavier Phillips, violoncelle
Brussels Philharmonic –
Hervé Niquet, direction


Les Beaux Jours

10 Calme d’un beau jour 1:32
11 Berger et Bergère 0:55
12 Murmures des forêts 1:52
13 Incendie de broussailles 0:57
14 Tocsin 0:50
15 Les Senteurs du jasmin 1:40
16 Murmures du ruisseau 0:49
17 Après la valse 0:53
18 Aimable Badinage 1:02
19 Le Pâtre et l’Écho 1:41
20 On rit 0:31
21 On rêve au mauvais temps 1:32

Dana Ciocarlie, piano



cd ii [58:24]

Concerto pour Piano et Orchestre No.2 en Ut mineur

01 Allegro 12:09
02 Andante 2:22
03 Più lento 2:44
04 Vivace non troppo 8:08

David Violi, piano
Orchestre national de Lille –
Joseph Swensen, direction


Concerto pour Piano et Orchestre No.1 en Ré mineur

05 Lento / Allegro moderato 11:22
06 Adagio 8:17
07 Allegro con brio 13:13

Romain Descharmes, piano
Orchestre national de Lille –
Joseph Swensen, direction



cd iii [59:05]

Douze Valses et Finale pour Piano à quatre mains, Op.8

01 Allegro con brio 0:53
02 Moderato 1:54
03 Animato giocoso 1:05
04 Allegro fuocoso 1:08
05 Capriccioso 2:05
06 Quasi lento con tenerezza 1:58
07 Tempo giusto 1:14
08 Allegretto cantabile 1:46
09 Allegretto amoroso 1:30
10 Andantino melanconico 1:43
11 Allegro armonioso 1:57
12 Allegro dolce fantastico 2:09
13 Finale : Vivace fuocoso 1:23

Lidija & Sanja Bizjak, piano (Érard 1902)


Ce qu’on entend dans l’Enfer (extraits)

14 Appel 5:24
15 Blasphèmes 2:59

Ce qu’on entend dans le Purgatoire (extraits)

16 Pressentiments 3:41
17 Maintenant et Jadis 4:58

Ce qu’on entend dans le Paradis (extraits)

18 Apaisement 2:31
19 Quiétude 3:03

David Bismuth, piano


Les Jours pluvieux

20 Quelques Gouttes de pluie 0:54
21 Vent et Pluie 0:51
22 Grisaille 1:50
23 Petite Pluie fine 0:46
24 En querelle 0:45
25 À l’abri 1:15
26 Morose 0:54
27 On pleure 1:21
28 L’Orage ne vient pas 1:35
29 Roses flétries 1:56
30 Ennuyeux comme la pluie 1:13
31 On rêve au beau temps 1:59

Nicolas Stavy, piano