Quite recently I reviewed
a disc in Naxos’s Laureate Series with
winners of important guitar competitions.
Then it was the young Spaniard Pablo
Sáinz Villegas; here
comes another disc in the same series
with the even younger Frenchman Jérémy
Jouve. Both were recorded on consecutive
days in May 2004 in Ontario, Canada
with the experienced production team
Norbert Kraft and Bonnie Silver, although
in different venues. The change of location
does, not change the quality of the
recording: this is the warm, rounded
and yet transparent sound we have come
to expect from this team. When it comes
to the quality of the playing I have
to say again that I have still to hear
a merely good player on a Naxos guitar
disc. They have all been superb and
Jérémy Jouve is no exception.
While Villegas limited
himself to Spanish composers, Jouve
throws his net a bit wider, even if
he also chooses Spain as his starting
point with two attractive sonatas by
Rodrigo and Turina respectively. The
Rodrigo composition is just as joyous
as its title suggests Sonata Giocosa;
at least in the outer movements which
literally bubble; the slow middle movement
is in total contrast to this joy and
sounds almost sacred. Turina’s Sonata,
from 1931, is clearly influenced by
flamenco; he even uses the golpe,
which is when you tap on the guitar’s
body.
Then Jouve takes us
back to the renaissance and perhaps
the greatest of 16th century
Italian lutenists, Francesco da Milano.
Four of his ricercare are performed
here, chosen to fit together as a suite.
This is restrained music, noble in character,
no big gestures. It’s a big leap from
the early 16th century to
the early 1960s and to Britten’s masterpiece
Nocturnal, written not long after
his War Requiem. This music was originally
also conceived for the lute but Julian
Bream, himself a noted lutenist, talked
the composer out of that idea. There
are other references to early music
as well, since the seven short variations
and the long concluding passacaglia
are based on John Dowland’s song Come,
heavy sleep. It is a many-faceted
work, dramatic and thrilling and played
with brio by Jouve. My only regret is
that Naxos (or the producer) hasn’t
given each variation a separate track.
It is, after all, a long piece, close
to nineteen minutes.
As a kind of lollipop
Jouve serves a Fantasy on Themes
from "La Traviata", by
the Spanish guitarist Julián
Arcas. He belonged to a generation even
earlier than Tarrega, to whom the piece
has wrongly been attributed. This is
a genre that was immensely popular in
the nineteenth century - among pianists:
Liszt and Thalberg of course; but also
among guitarists: Johann Kaspar Mertz
and Napoléon Coste to mention
just two. Since the choice of melodies
is concentrated to Violetta’s music
it is partly tear-jerkingly elegiac
but partly also almost parodically jaunty
and virtuosic. It shouldn’t be taken
too seriously and as a late night entertainment
it is charming.
Jérémy
Jouve is a vital and robust player who
makes the most of the many dramatic
and lively passages but he can also
spin thin threads of golden tone in
quieter music, notably the renaissance
pieces.
Apart from Britten’s
Nocturnal this is not everyday fare
even for seasoned collectors, so if
the programme is attractive, give it
a try. The execution is beyond reproach.
Göran Forsling
Jérémy Jouve (guitar) 
