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Track(s) taken from CDA67890

Nocturne No 6 in D flat major, Op 63

composer
3 August 1894; published in 1894

Stephen Hough (piano)
Recording details: October 2010
Concert Hall, Wyastone Estate, Monmouth, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: September 2012
Total duration: 7 minutes 43 seconds

Cover artwork: Gasthof zur Muldentalsperre (2000-2002). Peter Doig (b1959)
Collection Nancy Lauter and Alfred L McDougal / The Art Institute of Chicago / Photograph by Grant Hiroshima
 

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Reviews

‘Stephen Hough calls his extremely generous, 79-minute, 17-item French Album ‘a sort of musical dessert trolley’, but that sells it short. It’s much more of a festive hamper, offering a full meal to lovers of French music, mixing up the familiar and the unknown with Stephen’s typical charm and panache’ (The Mail on Sunday)

‘A substantial gourmet feast of masterly pianism … central to the disc are the works by Fauré and Poulenc, heard to their best advantage when programmed in this way, hand-picked and set beside short works by Massenet and Chabrier. There are some great performances here … the expressive simplicity of his playing can make your eyes burn. In Clair de lune and Chaminade's once ubiquitous Automne, now rarely heard, Hough conjures up a heart-catching melody that puts me in mind of Cherkassky … excellent booklet. Fine recording. De plus, s'il vous plaît!’ (Gramophone)

‘Once again, Stephen Hough's consummate artistry extends to inspirational programme building … the Fauré group is ravishingly contrasted, with a fluency and limpid style supported by all the necessary backbone and sense of direction to make the composer's tortuous harmonic twists sound as natural as speech … chez Poulenc, the constantly shifting balance of melody, countermelody and accompaniment is defined by subtlety of dynamic shading, deft pedal work and brushstroke rubato … even by Hough standards the whole enterprise is a tour-de-force and easily the most satisfying disc of piano music I've encountered so far this year’ (International Record Review)

‘Stephen Hough is a treasurable musician of questing intelligence. His latest album is among the most enjoyable … the Fauré selections best display Hough's connoisseur touch. From the adventurous journey of the sixth Nocturne to the restless harmonies of the fifth Barcarolle, each selection springs a new surprise. The lighter French spirit surfaces in Hough's own arrangements of Délibes and Massenet, delivered with delicious wit and grace’ (The Times)

‘An exquisite arrangement of Massenet's Crépuscule … Ravel's Alborada del gracioso and Fauré's F sharp minor Impromptu are glitteringly played’ (The Sunday Times)

‘It is a stroke of genius to end with the Liszt/Halévy Réminiscences de La juive. Hough makes this Fantaisie brillante a true tour-de-force … a terrific disc’ (International Piano)

‘An unhackneyed selection. Everything is beautifully played; whether the four pieces by Fauré or the three by Poulenc, it is a feast of virtousity and poetry’ (Dominion Post, New Zealand)
In the early 1890s, Fauré, whose marriage had turned problematic, had a love affair with Emma Bardac, a gifted mezzo-soprano married to a philandering banker. The relationship sparked his song cycle La bonne chanson, which shows a freeing-up of language, a sense of expanded possibility.

The D flat major sixth nocturne (1894) exhibits extended, irregular phrase lengths and chromatic manipulations which share that quality of freshness and adventure; and the central section, with its melody high above flurries of glittering semiquavers, is so beautiful that once a society lady begged to know where he had dreamed it up. Fauré replied: ‘In the Simplon Tunnel.’ Gradually the different ideas are brought together and implode. Then the opening idea returns, to reach a soft close.

In 1904 Emma finally left her husband … for Claude Debussy.

from notes by Jessica Duchen © 2023

Au début des années 1890, Fauré dont le mariage était devenu problématique, eut une liaison avec Emma Bardac, une mezzo-soprano très douée mariée à un banquier coureur de jupons. Cette relation donna naissance à son cycle de mélodies La bonne chanson, qui révèle une libération du langage, une impression de perspectives accrues.

Dans le sixième nocturne (1894), en ré bémol majeur, les phrases sont plus longues et irrégulières, avec des manipulations chromatiques qui partagent cette qualité de fraîcheur et d’aventure; et la section centrale, la mélodie scintillant au-dessus de rafales de doubles croches étincelantes, est si belle qu’un jour, une dame de la haute société lui demanda où il l’avait conçue. Fauré répondit: «Sous le tunnel du Simplon.» Peu à peu, les différentes idées sont réunies et implosent. Ensuite, l’idée initiale revient, pour atteindre une douce conclusion.

En 1904, Emma finit par quitter son mari … pour Claude Debussy.

extrait des notes rédigées par Jessica Duchen © 2023
Français: Marie-Stella Pâris

Anfang der 1890er-Jahre hatte Fauré, von Eheproblemen geplagt, eine Affäre mit Emma Bardac, einer begabten Mezzosopranistin, die mit einem treulosen Bankier verheiratet war. Die Beziehung regte ihn zu seinem Zyklus La bonne chanson an; in ihm zeigt sich die zunehmende Befreiung seiner Sprache, der Eindruck von neuen Möglichkeiten.

Einen ähnlichen Eindruck vermitteln erweiterte, unregelmäßige Phrasen und chromatische Wendungen im Nocturne Nr. 6 Des-Dur (1894); und der Mittelteil mit einer Melodie, die über Schwärmen flirrender Sechzehntelnoten aufleuchtet, ist von solcher Schönheit, dass eine Dame ihn einmal bat zu verraten, wo er diese Musik erträumt hätte. Fauré erwiderte: „Im Simplon-Tunnel.“ Schrittweise werden die Themen kombiniert und fallen in sich zusammen. Das Anfangsthema kehrt zurück und führt das Stück zu einem ruhigen Schluss.

1904 verließ Emma ihren Ehemann—um mit Claude Debussy zusammenzuleben.

aus dem Begleittext von Jessica Duchen © 2023
Deutsch: Friedrich Sprondel

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