Jean-Philippe Rameau, the Emler-Tchamitchian-Echampard trio, Beach House…

• Jean-Philippe Rameau
  platy
  Marcel Beekman, Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Marc Mauillon, Cyril Auvity, Jeanine De Bique, Emmanuelle de Negri, Padraic Rowan, Emilie Renard, Ilona Revolskaya, Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Les Arts Florissants, William Christie (conductor).

Cover of the album “Platée”, by Rameau, with William Christie (conductor). HARMONY MUNDI/PIAS

Here is a version that boldly combines the tragicomic sides instilled by Rameau in this buffoonish ballet, whose heroine is none other than a frog (Platée) courted by Jupiter in order to neutralize the jealousy of his wife, Juno. Alacrity, dynamism, panache, the direction of William Christie deploys the treasures of the Ramellian framework, at the head of his flourishing Arts and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor, two ensembles whose excellence is well established. Magnificent too, a cast in which shines in the title role (Platée is sung by a male voice) a Marcel Beekman by turns expressive and comical, moving and ridiculous. Its executioner is none other than the sovereign Jupiter of Edwin Crossley-Mercer, facing the overexcited Juno of Emilie Renard. But it is La Folie, embodied by Jeanine De Bique, that conquers hearts: virtuosity, flexibility, roundness, expressiveness, the soprano from the Caribbean is now unavoidable. Marie Aude Roux

2 CD Harmonia Mundi/PIAS.

• Béatrice Berrut
  Jugendstil
  Gustave Mahler: excerpts from symphonies no. 3, 5 and 6. Arnold Schoenberg: Transfigured Night. Beatrice Berrut (piano).

Cover of the album “Jugendstil”, by Béatrice Berrut (piano). LA DOLCE VOLTA / INTEGRAL

Like Franz Liszt, the composer of whom she is today one of the most brilliant interpreters, Béatrice Berrut makes transcription a model of transmission. His treatment of Gustav Mahler’s symphonies consists of transforming the solid gold of the orchestra into liquid gold of the piano. Under his fingers, the Adagietto of the 5^e becomes a torrent of light and the Minuetto of the 3^e, a source of expressive renewal. Unfathomable lake, the Andante of the 6^e reflects the sublimation of doubt. However, the most mind-blowing testimony to his art as an alchemist is provided by the intoxicating « paraphrase » – in the Lisztian sense – of The Transfigured Night, by Arnold Schoenberg. A technical tour de force (to forget the strings of the original sextet) and artistic (to enrich the figuration of the drama) which transcends the visual dimension of the work. Pierre Gervasoni

1 CD La Dolce Volta/Integral.

• Trio Emler-Tchamitchian-Echampard
  The Useful Report

Pochette de l’album « The Useful Report », d’Andy Emler, Claude Tchamitchian et Eric Echampard. LA BUISSONNE/PIAS

Pianist Andy Emler reunites with bassist Claude Tchamitchian and drummer Eric Echampard, the rhythmic force, and well beyond, of his sumptuous MegaOctet, for a fourth album as a trio, The Useful Report. Eleven compositions, some of which seem to be born from improvisations, from a melodic phrase that develops, in sequences that have the form of suites (The Document and The Realin the same surge of musical energy, The Fake and The Lieswith pride of place given to the double bass, The Resistantin the dancing drum and bass style, treated in acoustics, which leads to the aerial space of The Endless Hopelude). Sophisticated in writing and execution, with rhythmic dynamics that sometimes contradict the basic tempo, harmonic choices that do not systematically underline the melody, this new journey with the trio wins by its readability, its collective momentum . Sylvain Siclier

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