Ravel, Fauré & Bonis: Trio Avec Piano

For its first recording on Zig-Zag Territories, the George Sand Trio, composed of Virginie Buscail, Nadine Pierre and Anne-Lise Gastaldi, offers a refined interpretation of trios by Ravel, Mel Bonis, and Fauré. It is astonishing to realize the gulf that divides the two greatest trios in French music: while Ravel’s sparkles with a quasi-orchestral profusion and presents unexpected formal devices, that of his master Fauré (composed later) unassertively imposes a timeless, poignant austerity.

These masterpieces, which gain much from being placed side by side, are here complemented by a diptych for trio by their contemporary Mel Bonis, a woman composer whose output, despite its high quality, is still too seldom heard.