Gerard Causse

“Pastoral Debussy, most seductive in the Sonata with Causse's grit a welcome foil to his colleagues' limpid sounds.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2012 ****

“This is not, of course, a period performance. Causse freely indulges in rubato, treads warily through the chordal passages and is sparing with ornamentation. The rubato is most successful in the expansive preludes and less so in the smaller-scale movements styled as dances.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2012

“Causse's approach is strangely old-fashioned. The Preludes are aptly rhapsodic: a glorious acoustic gathers up the harmony and counterpoint hidden within Bach's single line...Alluring for fluent French-speakers; less so for the rest of the world.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2012 ***

“In all, then, these are warmly textured, rhythmically somewhat devitalised accounts. They are lovely as examples of viola playing but they don’t always reach to the heart of the music” MusicWeb International, July 2012

“What freshness and spontaneity! Four first-rank players give their all to some of Brahms's most passionate music, and create the precious effect of discovering that music for the first time.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2008 *****

“…there is much to admire in this latest chamber set from the Capuçons et al. As ever, they don’t rely on received interpretative wisdom, and often shed new light where others follow more predictable paths.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2009

“these performances of the three Brahms piano quartets with viola player Gérard Caussé and pianist Nicholas Angelich, have a wonderfully natural flow and sense of poise. Angelich may be a Brahms specialist, but there is nothing overbearing or intellectualised about his contributions” The Guardian, 7th November 2008 ****

“A memorable account of the Trout Quintet. This group may not project the warmth and bonhomie of the famous Curzon/Boskovsky recording, nor does it have the searching quality of the performance led by Alfred Brendel, but for verve and refinement it's hard to beat. The happy, carefree nature of the music is captured perfectly on a beautifully clear recording; it's especially notable how every detail of the double bass's very spirited contribution, is clearly heard yet with no sense that Alois Posch is 'bringing out' his part. Especially enjoyable is the Scherzo – a fast tempo, but finely poised, and with a subtle, effective relaxation of the trio – and the Variations.
In Variation 2 Renaud Capuçon's figuration is so delicate that the viola melody can create a particularly strong expressive effect, and the following variation is just as magical – Frank Braley's demisemiquavers are quite brilliant, with a lovely, silvery tone, and the bass melody has, for once, nothing elephantine about it.
The elaborate, showy set of variations on 'Trockne Blumen' from Die schöne Müllerin, dating from 1824, is an unhackneyed choice of filler. It's curious that the current catalogue lists only two recordings, and one of these, like the present version, substitutes violin for the original flute. It certainly makes a virtuoso violin and piano piece, and played with the precision and delicacy that Capuçon and Braley bring to it is highly effective, though with only occasional touches of the melancholy we expect in late Schubert. After this extravagant music, the touching simplicity of the song arrangement is the more striking.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Causse's big sound is every bit a match for Shostakovich's dour, late masterpiece; an impression reinforced by the bathroom acoustic. He and Engerer present a straightforward, almost brusque view of the sonata” Classical Music, 5th May 2012 ***

“this is a very successful release. Mirare's engineering team has captured both performers with warmth and with exciting detail...one is drawn to the intelligence and sensitivity of the playing, as well as to the reedy and rather human sound of Causse's instrument.” International Record Review, May 2012