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Track(s) taken from CDA67515

Aubade

composer
1883

Angela Hewitt (piano)
Recording details: June 2004
Das Kulturzentrum Grand Hotel, Dobbiaco, Italy
Produced by Ludger Böckenhoff
Engineered by Ludger Böckenhoff
Release date: February 2006
Total duration: 4 minutes 45 seconds
 

Reviews

‘As to Hewitt's performances, they are as affectionate, warm, lyrical and charming as one could wish, underlining but not exaggerating Chabrier's deliciously predictable unpredictability’ (Gramophone)

‘Hewitt is at her best here, teasing out the yearning harmonies and shy cadences with a persuasive rubato’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘It is very fresh-face playing, bringing out, also, Chabrier's acknowledged debt to the French Baroque keyboard giants, while even Bach seems to hang over the gigue-like Scherzo-valse … wit and charm are in abundance’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘Angela Hewitt, in one of her best recordings to date, has captured Chabrier's musical spirit perfectly’ (International Record Review)

‘Pianists have missed some treats by neglecting Chabrier’s piano music. Angela Hewitt plays this refreshing selection with the same poetry, elegance and dancing touch that made her other French discs for Hyperion so special. The ten Pièces pittoresques take pride of place: dominated by sunshine, delightfully frisky rhythms and an early French Impressionist haze. Fed up of grey skies? Buy this disc and it’s already spring’ (The Times)

‘If you don't know Chabrier's piano music, then this is an ideal selection of his best (and best-known) works played with exactly the right amount of tenderness, Gallic wit, verve, and—the most important ingredient of all—charm’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Hewitt is in excellent form throughout … well worth it, I'd say’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘In terms of recording, performance, and production, another success for the Hewitt-Hyperion collaboration’ (MusicWeb International)

‘Perhaps Angela Hewitt's freshly minted, sharply honed interprestations will inspire recitalists to dust off these unsung treasures’ (Classics Today)
Aubade comes to us straight from Spain—in the same way as Ravel’s later Alborado del gracioso—with its guitar-like pizzicatos, its outbursts and drum rolls, and a more lyrical, almost improvised middle section. The work seems to end sweetly, until we are surprised by the almost brutal final few bars. It was written in 1883.

from notes by Jean-Paul Sévilla © 2006
English: Roland Smithers

Aubade nous vient tout droit d’Espagne—comme plus tard l’Alborada del gracioso de Ravel—avec ses pizzicatos de guitare, ses élans, ses coups de tambourin, et sa partie médiane, plus lyrique, presque une improvisation. L’œuvre semblerait se terminer en douceur, mais ce sera la surprise des dernières mesures presque brutales qui la clôtureront. Celle-ci fut écrite en 1883.

extrait des notes rédigées par Jean-Paul Sévilla © 2006

Aubade kommt—auf ähnliche Art und Weise wie Ravels späteres Alborado del gracioso—mit seinen an Gitarrenklänge erinnernden pizzicati, seinen Gefühlsausbrüchen, Trommelwirbeln sowie einem lyrischeren, fast improvisiert wirkenden Mittelteil, auf direktem Wege aus Spanien zu uns. Allem Anschein nach endet das Werk voller Lieblichkeit, bis die letzten paar fast brutalen Takte überraschend hereinbrechen. Aubade entstand 1883.

aus dem Begleittext von Jean-Paul Sévilla © 2006
Deutsch: Bettina Reinke-Welsh

Other albums featuring this work

Chabrier: Piano Music
This album is not yet available for downloadSACDA67515Super-Audio CD — Deleted
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