Chabrier: Bourrée Fantasque

This disc of popular works by Emmanuel Chabrier marks the beginning of a new series of French repertoire, performed by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under its newly appointed Artistic Director, Neeme Järvi.

After three attempts at comic opera, Chabrier finally achieved success in 1877 with L’Étoile, the plotline of which is set in the court of the somewhat emotionally unstable King Ouf. A couple of years previously, Chabrier had written a short Lamento for orchestra, a work which would not perhaps be considered revolutionary by today’s audiences, but which caused the committee of the Société nationale de musique to hum and haw over it for eighteen long months before finally letting it loose on the Parisian public in 1878.

From July to December 1882, Chabrier took his family on an extended holiday to Spain, during which he kept himself busy by noting down the Spanish folk tunes and dance rhythms he encountered on his way. He put many of them into his orchestral masterpiece España, a work overwhelming in its orchestral colour, which is such a characteristic feature of this composer. The impressions of his Spanish holiday can also be heard in the Habanera.

For six years Chabrier worked on Gwendoline, a two-act dramatic opera on a libretto by Catulle Mendès, set in Britain in what he called ‘barbarous times’. Inspired by Wagner and Berlioz, the Overture sets the scene perfectly for a drama of violence, treachery, and passion. A month after Gwendoline was premiered in Brussels in April 1886 the Opéra-Comique in Paris agreed to put on Chabrier’s next opera, Le Roi malgré lui, a melting pot of complex political intrigue, cheerful arias, and vivacious dances.

In 1880 Chabrier had written his Dix Pièces pittoresques for piano, and over the next few years he orchestrated four of them to form the Suite pastorale, with its gently pulsing ‘Idylle’ movement (which inspired Poulenc to become a composer), the raucous ‘Danse villageoise’, the sultry ‘Sous-bois’, and last but not least the sunny, high-spirited ‘Scherzo-valse’.

Also on this disc is the Joyeuse marche, one of Chabrier’s most popular works, and the Bourrée fantasque, based on a dance from the Auvergne region in France where the composer had spent his childhood.

Shura Cherkassky (1909–1995) was one of the greatest piano virtuosos of his time having studied under the legendary Josef Hofmann.

This WDR studio broadcast sourced from the original master tapes has Cherkassky playing Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini from 1970 in superb stereo. He recorded the Rhapsody only once in 1953 for EMI in mono but it has never been issued on CD so this taping is exceptionally important and adds a major work to Cherkassky’s large discography.

Prokofiev’s wartime Piano Sonata No.7 was never recorded commercially by Cherkassky so this is another addition to his discography sourced from WDR’s original master tapes. It was recorded in 1951 when Cherkassky was fast becoming a star in Germany.

The three scenes from Stravinsky’s Petruschka was a favourite virtuoso work for Cherkassky and this 1951 recording shows him at his most brilliant, sourced from WDR’s original master tapes. Three encores have been added from 1951 and 1953 (not sourced from WDR) which again showcase Cherkassky’s incredible technique during the early period of his career in Germany. Note that Cherkassky never recorded Chabrier’s Bourrée Fantasque commercially.

The music of Chabrier is an “inexhaustible treasure”, so said Francis Poulenc.

The pianist Emmanuel Strosser studied at the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in the classes of Jean-Claude Pennetier and Christian Ivaldi, with further study under Leon Fleisher and Maria João Pires. Laureate of the Florence Chamber Music Competition and finalist in the Clara Haskil, he has since pursued a career as a soloist or in chamber music in major festivals, including the Roque d’Anthéron and Evian. His recordings have been acclaimed by critics, with a Choc du Monde de la Musique for his recording of Beethoven sonatas with Assaï.

The latest release in this globally acclaimed series features Koechlin’s orchestations of works by Debussy, Fauré, Chabrier and Schubert, all of which are world premere recordings. He was able to craft an intoxicating range of colours into every score.

On a recent music forum the question was posed ‘What music makes you smile?’ The immediate answer ‘Anything by Chabrier’ initiated a chorus of approval as others responded with their favourite Chabrier pieces. Everyone knows Espana, many will recognise Joyeuse marche and an increasing number are now familiar with the exquisitely crafted L’étoile. This CD celebrates these works and much else besides in performances that have attracted the highest praise. Every emotion from the stormy (Gwendoline Overture) to the life-affirming (L’île heureuse) as well as the inevitable laugh out loud works, is covered, Chabrier’s genial nature, earthy sense of humour, unconventional keyboard technique and wide-ranging interests ensured that he moved easily in C19 artistic circles and amongst his closest friends were the finest composers, painters and writers of the day. His influence on twentieth century music was immense and if you enjoy Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel, Satie, Poulenc and de Falla, then you will love this disc!