Alexandre Tharaud VERSAILLES

                                                                   VERSAILLES

Eva Zaïcik / Le Consort / Justin Taylor VENEZ CHÈRE OMBRE

Mezzo-soprano Eva Zaïcik, who has signed up with Alpha for several recordings, is one of the most prominent vocal artists of her generation. She was chosen as ‘Révélation lyrique’ at the Victoires de la Musique Classique 2018, and elected the same year a Laureate of the prestigious Queen Elizabeth of Belgium Competition. She has participated in the “Jardin des Voix” of les Arts Florissants under William Christie, also regularly collaborates with Le Poème Harmonique and Vincent Dumestre – but her constant accompanist is the harpsichordist Justin Taylor. Together with two other musician graduates, the violinists Théotime Langlois de Swarte and Sophie de Bardonnèche, they have founded Le Consort, to explore both sacred and secular works by composers such as Charpentier, Campra and Clérambault. For this recording they are joined by the flautist Anna Besson and gamba player Lucile Boulanger, both well-known to the Alpha label, as well as Louise Pierrard (viola da gamba) and Thibault Roussel (theorbo).This recording is devoted to the Cantatas of Lefebvre, Montéclair, Clérambault and Courbois, more than half of which have never previously been recorded.

The cantata inspired non-operatic composers to play out the fashionable narratives of the day on a reduced scale, and in the intimate surroundings of the salons. It is a subtle genre and a vivid depiction of the characters.

David Chalmin / Le Consort SEPT PARTICULES

Sept Particules (Seven Particles) refers to the seven musicians who perform the piece, as well as the seven movements comprising it. The concept of a particle brings us down to the most elementary material which comprises us and music. For me, it was about finding a shared language between us all; between early and contemporary, acoustic and electronic instruments.” “More than a narrative, the piece is like a journey between the musical realms which inspire me. The first particle is influenced by minimalist music with its repetitive figures; cells which return and intertwine with each other, creating polyrhythmia. In the rest of the piece, one can hear evocations of Baroque, electronic, pop and ambient music. (David Chalmin)

BACH Clavier-Büchlein für W.F. Bach

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach was born on 22 November 1710 and was the eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He received an extensive education at first the Lutheran grammar school in Köthen (from 1717) and then St Thomas’s School in Leipzig from 1723, followed by the University of Leipzig, where he enrolled in 1729 to study law, philosophy and mathematics. In around 1727, he took violin lessons with Johann Gottlieb Graun, and six years later he was appointed organist at St Sophia’s Church in Dresden. However, his first attempts at composition began in his childhood, when he received music lessons from his father. As a result, by the age of just ten he was able to write the Clavier-Büchlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, which contained subsequent entries until 1725/26. Between 1724 and 1726, he is also known to have worked as a copyist for his father’s cantata parts.

Justin Taylor BACH Harpsichord Works

At the age of only twenty-three, the Franco-American musician wins First Prize at the International Musica Antiqua Harpsichord Competition in Bruges, as well as the Audience Prize and two other special prizes. His first disc, which appeared at Alpha in September 2016 and is devoted to the Forqueray family, earns unanimous critical praise: it is awarded a CHOC from Classica Magazine, an “Editor’s Choice” from Gramophone, and a Grand Prix from the Académie Charles Cros. Justin Taylor is nominated as one of the three finalists in the “Instrumental Soloist Revelations” category in the 2017 “Victoires de la Musique” on the national television channel “France 3”. He has just recorded Mozart’s 17th concerto (K 453) with Le Concert de la Loge (Julien Chauvin). Ever willing to share his love of music with the general public, Justin Taylor performs as a soloist on the harpsichord and the fortepiano, as well as with his chamber music ensemble, the Taylor Consort

Le Concert de la Loge / Julien Chauvin / Justin Taylor HAYDN La Poule

Thanks to Julien Chauvin and his ensemble La Loge, the programs of the Concert Spirituel’s evenings in the late 18^th century Paris come back to life. The so called Haydn’s “symphonies parisiennes” are the core of their musical project which also features contemporary composers, some of them are still unknown.

After “La Reine”, Julien Chauvin and his musicians release “La Poule”, which mischievous doted notes are famous, and Marie-Alexandre Guénin’s Third Symphony. In addition to being a member of the Concert Spirituel’s orchestra as a violinist, Guénin was a teacher and a composer. This score, typical of the Sturm und Drang dramatic gestures, has nothing to envy to the works of his more prominent peers.

The disc ends with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17, K 453 performed by the young and talented Justin Taylor on the fortepiano. His technique allows his sensibility and intelligence to blossom freely so that the soloist can offer a pure moment of delicacy.

Justin Taylor CONTINUUM

Following his First Prize at the Bruges Competition and his first album, devoted to the Forqueray family (Choc of the Year in Classica, Editor’s Choice in Gramophone, Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros), the Franco American harpsichordist Justin Taylor has recently been awarded the Révélation Musicale Prize of the French Critics’ Circle. His career has developed rapidly, both as soloist (harpsichordist and also fortepianist) and as director of his ensemble, the Taylor Consort, with which Alpha will soon be recording... For his second recital, Justin Taylor juxtaposes Scarlatti and Ligeti, two composers whose periods and universes seem so remote from each other, yet who show numerous affinities: in their inventiveness, the virtuosity of their respective languages and their common urge to push the keyboard to its very limits.

Continuum builds a bridgehead between these two hypersensitive composers by intertwining Ligeti’s three emblematic (and spectacular!) pieces for solo harpsichord with sonatas by Scarlatti.

Justin Taylor LA FAMILLE FORQUERAY

In recent years it has become commonplace to attribute the 1747 Forqueray Pièces (issued in two versions – one for bass viol, the other for harpsichord) mainly to the son, Jean-Baptiste, who published after his father Antoine’s death. This superbly conceived and produced debut recording suggests we should think again.

Even the young, Franco-American harpsichordist Justin Taylor himself attributes the two 1747 suites on this disc– at least in their final form – to Jean-Baptiste Forqueray. Yet Taylor’s own polished arrangement of a manuscript three-movement Suite pour trois violes by ‘Monsieur Forcroy’ (an earlier spelling often used to refer to Antoine) – if it is indeed by the father and not the son – bears many of the same musical fingerprints. Within the ingratiating Allemande lurks a popular song. The seductive Courante has such exuberance and momentum that evokes the mercurial Antoine. The piquant harmonic progressions in the poetic Sarabande presage those found in the 1747 suites. Viol scholars think of these pieces as less technically demanding than those of the 1747 collection. Taylor, having carefully studied the latter, has nevertheless ensured that the former are similarly styled. Some might say that, like Jean-Baptiste, he has muddied the waters; others will feel he has realised the music’s potential.

The disc opens appropriately with an unpretentious but nevertheless accomplished unmeasured Prelude, also attributed to Antoine, then follows it with a thoughtfully commanding performance of the first 1747 suite. Two aspects of his interpretation stand out: the breathtaking range and subtlety of his rubato and the unexpected slivers of rhetorical silence he deftly inserts. The final movement of the suite, ‘La Couperin’, is juxtaposed with Couperin’s own keyboard portrait of Antoine, though here Taylor respectfully curbs his inégalité. Duphly’s exquisite homage to Jean-Baptiste (and the 1747 collection) leads on to the Forquerays’ monumental Fifth Suite, played with affection and panache.

Winning first prize at the 2015 Musica Antiqua Festival in Bruges enabled Taylor to make this recording, which itself is destined to win him fresh accolades. (Julie Anne Sadie / Gramophone)