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Track(s) taken from CDA67872

Romance, Op 69

composer
1878-9; originally for cello and organ, rescored 1894; piano-accompanied version first performed in 1894 in Geneva, Fauré at the piano

Alban Gerhardt (cello), Cecile Licad (piano)
Recording details: October 2010
Concert Hall, Wyastone Estate, Monmouth, United Kingdom
Produced by Rachel Smith
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: January 2012
Total duration: 3 minutes 46 seconds

Cover artwork: Landscape at Cagnes. Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
Private Collection / Photo © Lefevre Fine Art Ltd, London / Bridgeman Images
 

Other recordings available for download

Steven Isserlis (cello), Pascal Devoyon (piano)

Reviews

‘Gerhardt and Licad sound as free as air, intellectually confident, full of verve, with niceties of balance and intensities never an issue; a convincing frame of colour, movement and sound in place for every movement, every piece’ (Gramophone)

‘Visionary performers … one has a powerful sense of Alban Gerhardt's compelling grasp of architecture’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Gerhardt and Licad make a particularly fine duo here, working emotionally in unison, sensing the music's contours with like mind, breathing as one’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘Like the works themselves, Gerhardt's playing and that of the pianist Cecile Licad is full of subtleties, the half-tones and inflections that make the chamber music of Fauré's final decade so elusive and fragile’ (The Guardian)

‘An arrestingly beautiful survey … this repertoire has been explored frequently and by some of the best, but seldom more persuasively than here … from every standpoint, Gerhardt's accounts of the sonatas seem exceptional, with their assured technical mastery and uncanny depth of insight … magnificent cello playing from Gerhardt, empathetically supportive accompaniments from Licad and a wonderfully natural and atmospheric recording to boot … recommended’ (International Record Review)

‘Both cello sonatas are rolled out effortlessly and with an abundance of colour … other short cello works, the delicious Élégie included, pad out this sizeable, and very satisfying, offering … a super recording’ (The Scotsman)

‘Alban Gerhardt has arrived at the ideal marriage of Fauré's refinement, essential reticence and the passion that lies just beneath the surface of the two cello sonatas’ (Yorkshire Post)
Starting as a piece for cello and organ at some unknown date, the Romance was long delayed in its publication and finally brought out in 1894 and premiered that year in Geneva with Fauré playing the piano part. In transferring the accompaniment, Fauré articulated the original crotchet chords as semiquavers, but the solo part remains unchanged except for the very end, where the cello now hangs on to the final high A instead of making a two-octave descent. The opening of the tune recurs in the wonderful ‘Nocturne’ from Shylock, and again in the song ‘Soir’. Even if here there is no nocturnal reference, the piece conforms to an archetype of the meditative Fauré.

from notes by Roger Nichols © 2012

La publication de la Romance a longtemps été retardée. Voyant d’abord le jour comme une pièce pour violoncelle et orgue à une date inconnue, elle a finalement été publiée en 1894 et créée cette même année à Genève, Fauré tenant la partie de piano. En transférant l’accompagnement, Fauré a articulé les accords de noires originaux en doubles croches, mais la partie soliste reste inchangée à l’exception de la fin ultime, où le violoncelle s’accroche maintenant au dernier la aigu au lieu de faire une descente de deux octaves. Le début du thème revient dans le merveilleux «Nocturne» de Shylock et, à nouveau, dans la mélodie «Soir». Même s’il n’y a pas ici de référence nocturne, cette œuvre se conforme à un archétype du Fauré méditatif.

extrait des notes rédigées par Roger Nichols © 2012
Français: Marie-Stella Pâris

Die Romance wurde erst mit Verspätung herausgegeben. Sie entstand zu einem unbekannten Zeitpunkt als Stück für Cello und Orgel, kam schließlich im Jahre 1894 zum Vorschein und wurde im selben Jahr in Genf uraufgeführt, wobei Fauré selbst Klavier spielte. Im Zuge der Überarbeitung der Begleitung änderte Fauré die ursprünglichen Viertel-Akkorde in Sechzehntel um. Der Solo-Part blieb jedoch unverändert, nur ganz am Ende verweilt das Cello auf dem Schlusston, dem hohen A, anstatt den Abstieg über zwei Oktaven zu machen. Der Beginn der Melodie kehrt in dem wunderbaren „Nocturne“ der Shylock-Suite vor, und nochmals in dem Lied „Soir“. Selbst wenn sich hier kein nächtlicher Verweis findet, ist dieses Werk doch ein Paradebeispiel für den nachdenklichen Fauré.

aus dem Begleittext von Roger Nichols © 2012
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

Other albums featuring this work

Fauré: Cello Sonata No 2 & other works
CDA66235Deleted
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