Jean Daufresne / Mathilde Nguyen MIROIR

MIROIR

Hee-Young Lim / London Symphony Orchestra / Scott Yoo FRENCH CELLO CONCERTOS

The young South Korean cellist Hee-Young Lim won her first competition at the tender age of 11 and has been racking up honors ever since. 

It's little wonder. As she showed at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater on Saturday night, Lim, now 20, is a deeply gifted musician with a full, singing tone, near-flawless technique and a natural lyricism that infused virtually every note she played. 

Performing entirely from memory, Lim clearly had little use for the theatricality that other wunderkinder often indulge in; in fact, she seemed almost self-effacing onstage, and her playing always favored elegance over indulgence. At first, she almost seemed too well behaved; Boccherini's Sonata in A, No. 6, which opened the program, was decorous to a fault. But she quickly moved into more complex depths with Debussy's Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor -- a mercurial, elegantly savage work that she brought off with insight and quiet power.

Sophie Karthäuser / Eugene Asti LE BAL DES ANIMAUX

A mirror for the human animal The inhabitants of the animal kingdom have long been a subject of fascination for visual artists, and a source of inspiration for composers as well. Whether voicing their affection and awe, or mocking the human animal, composers have paid tribute to our furry and feathered friends by producing masterpieces of invention, musical mimicry, and wit. Peacocks, ducks, dromedaries, pigs, butterflies, carp, cicadas, and owls are just some of the creatures in the menagerie assembled for this recording, featuring the mischievous voice of Sophie Karthäuser, deftly accompanied by Eugene Asti.

Gaëlle Arquez / Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine / Paul Daniel ARDENTE FLAMME

French mezzo-soprano Gaëlle Arquez is one of the rising stars of the opera world. Nominated “Révélation Lyrique” at the “Victoires de la Musique 2011”, she made a noted debut in the title role of the new production La Belle Helene at the the Théâtre du Châtelet and is scheduled to sing the title roles of Carmen, Xerses, Pelleas et Mélisande and Armide.

For her first album with Deutsche Grammophon, Ardente Flamme, rising star Gaëlle Arquez shows the extent of her talent through a program that pays homage to the French repertoire from Baroque to Romantic music. 

Accompanied by the National Orchestra Bordeaux Aquitaine under the direction of Paul Daniel, the mezzo-soprano embodies the female characters in opera who are the most torn between Duty and Love. From Gluck to Massenet, via Berlioz, "Ardente flamme" travels thourgh the history of French opera in a selection of both famous and lesser known tunes, including excerpts from Bizet's Carmen, which Ms. Arquez is currently performing  in the most beautiful European venues, including the Royal Opera House, Frankfurt Opera and Teatro Real de Madrid.

Renaud Capuçon / Paavo Järvi / Orchestre de Paris LALO Symphonie Espagnole SARASATE Zigeunerweisen BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1

Renaud Capuçon exudes a youthful air, but, now firmly established as one of the world’s leading violinists, he celebrates his 40th birthday on January 27th 2016. This release of the best-known works of three composers – Edouard Lalo, Pablo de Sarasate and Max Bruch – marks this important personal occasion in a suitably festive fashion. Capuçon made the recordings with Paavo Järvi and the Orchestre de Paris at the orchestra’s new home, the French capital’s Philharmonie, which opened in early 2015 and was immediately hailed for its superb acoustics. The Bruch concerto became the first piece to be recorded there, in May 2015.

As it happens, Capuçon shares a birthday with Edouard Lalo, born in 1823 – and with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart too! Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole, first performed in Paris in 1874, inhabits the same Franco-Spanish musical world as Bizet’s Carmen, which received its premiere the following year. The piece also has a special connection with both Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen [Gypsy Airs] and Bruch’s Concerto No1, as Renaud Capuçon explains:

“These three works, first heard between 1868 and 1878, are among the most famous in the history of the violin, and there are links of friendship and respect between their three composers – Lalo, Sarasate and Bruch: Lalo dedicated his Symphonie espagnole to Sarasate [born in northern Spain and one of the most celebrated violinists of his time]. Bruch dedicated his Scottish Fantasy to Sarasate some years later, but it was the great Joseph Joachim who gave the first performance of Bruch’s Concerto No 1.”

All three pieces also have a special significance for Capuçon: “I first approached these works when I was 12 years old and studying at the Paris Conservatoire with Veda Reynolds [a celebrated American violin teacher]. I played the Bruch in my first competitions; the Lalo was the first piece I played to Gerard Poulet [Capuçon’s other teacher at the Paris Conservatoire] and the Sarasate featured in my first proper recital."

The personal nature of this album is further emphasised by Renaud Capuçon’s wish to dedicate it to the memories of two people who meant a great deal to him: the broadcaster Jacques Chancel, who died in December 2014, and his father-in-law Gratien Ferrari, who died in October 2015.

Capuçon’s credentials in this kind of Romantic music are made clear in reviews of past performances and recordings. When he played the Lalo in London in 2012, the Guardian praised him for capturing “the full measure of the seriousness behind its grace and wit. Capuçon played with virile agility and tremendous nobility of tone,” while The Times extolled a “gorgeous performance from violin soloist Renaud Capuçon, laidback in manner, but so nimble, so fiery.” The Bruch concerto – with its rhapsodic first movement and energetic, dancing finale is close in spirit to the Brahms Violin Concerto, composed in 1878 and also dedicated to Joseph Joachim. Capuçon’s recording of the Brahms was released in 2012. Reviewing the CD, the Telegraph wrote that: “Capuçon has an impressive grasp of the concerto’s expressive contours, using his technical arsenal with finesse and tracing the music’s breadth of line and its arching shapes while maintaining its inner momentum. The rhythmic punch and energy of the finale are echoed by the orchestra’s powerful attack and buoyancy ... This is altogether a remarkable disc.” (Presto Classical)