Journal intime

Alexandre Tharaud (piano)

Alexandre Tharaud is al gevestigd als een van de meest individuele en bedachtzame pianisten van dit moment en maakt zijn debuut op Virgin Classics met deze verzameling stukken van Chopin, ‘Journal intime’ (privédagboek). Elk van de gekozen stukken – mazurka’s, nocturnes, ballades, de beroemde Fantaisie-impromptu en een aantal andere, minder bekende werken – heeft een speciaal belang of associatie voor Tharaud, die het pianoïsme van Vlado Perlemuter en Sergey Rachmaninov als bijzonder kenmerk noemt. invloed in de muziek van Chopin.

Veel van deze stukken staan ??al sinds zijn studententijd op het repertoire van Tharaud: “Ik laat de tijd voor mij werken. Het is buitengewoon verrijkend om op jonge leeftijd een werk te bestuderen en het in de loop van je leven opnieuw te bekijken. Het wordt een deel van jou.”

Tharaud, geboren in Parijs in 1968, hanteert een kritische benadering van repertoire, waarbij hij componisten als Bach, Rameau, Couperin, Chabrier, Satie, Ravel, Poulenc en Thierry Pécou (geb. 1965) belicht en vaak naast elkaar plaatst. Zijn catalogus met opnames voor Harmonia Mundi heeft aanzienlijk bijgedragen aan zijn reputatie.

Chopin:
 Mazurka No. 41 in C sharp minor, Op. 63 No. 3
 Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23
 Mazurka No. 11 in E minor, Op. 17 No. 2
 Mazurka No. 47 in A minor, Op. 68 No. 2
 Fantasia in F minor, Op. 49
 Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor, Op. post.
 Mazurka No. 6 in A minor, Op. 7 No. 2
 Ballade No. 2 in F major, Op. 38
 Mazurka No. 13 in A minor, Op. 17 No. 4
 Largo, Prelude Op. 28 No. 4
 3 Écossaises, Op. 72 No. 3
 Contredanse in G flat major, KKAnh.Ia/4
 Impromptu No. 4 in C sharp minor, Op. 66 'Fantaisie-Impromptu' 
 Nocturne No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9 No. 2

“Alexandre Tharaud [is] a young aristocrat of the keyboard. Cool, supple and elegant, all his performances are in the best French tradition; a fine union of sense and sensibility ... each phrase bringing a renewed sense of delight … the inwardness and grace one associates with true artists ... All these performances suggest a fastidious musical intelligence with an immaculate technique, the music's character and fragrance made light yet pervasive ... these scrupulously modern and sensitive performances are among the finest available." Gramophone

"Alexandre Tharaud plays Chopin with superlative technique. (...) He has recorded a breathtaking disc … This is intelligent playing that matches its clarity with perception and sensitivity, and variety of touch with sonic beauty. Tharaud is unfailingly responsive to melodic nuance and seems to relish every new twist of the texture. But there is also immense power when the dark energy beneath is unleashed. His concept plumbs the depths of Chopin's musical psyche with humility … a brilliant and original performance." BBC Music Magazine *****

“Alexandre Tharaud has dedicated his reading of Chopin’s Préludes to the memory of Vlado Perlemuter, and it is as unhistrionic and clearly articulated as the versions left by the late pianist … Tharaud is immediately persuasive with his uncontrived musicality. The more serene pages unfold gracefully … [but] shadows often assert their menacing presence: the pianist has spoken of the darkness he finds in the cycle, and it makes itself felt, though with no suggestion of artificiality or overstatement.”
Diapason

" … New discs of Chopin's waltzes are invariably compared to Dinu Lipatti's ethereal 1950 recording, which still inspires cult-like devotion. But even die-hard Lipatti fans will be impressed with the powerfully evocative musicianship of the superb young French pianist Alexandre Tharaud. Languid, wistful and dignified, his spontaneous and imaginative interpretations reinforce the enchanting, otherworldly quality of Chopin's miniatures …”
Time Out, New York

“His vision [of the Chopin waltzes] is completely personal – sensitive, but unaffected, sovereign in its pianism and always mobile, winged, in search of a multiplicity of voices and views.”
ClassicToday

“Alexandre Tharaud plays Chopin’s waltzes with the naturalness that comes when one’s wishes have been fulfilled … a wish to play, to speak, to sing, to be carried like a child on the momentum of the waltzes and to take private pleasure in these little things from a time when everything seemed simpler … Chopin’s nostalgia is not just a Romantic cliché … there is a sense that music is taking the place of narrative, the better to tell the story of a lost land … Alexandre Tharaud surpasses every expectation … making this an indispensable disc.”
Arte