A gifted pianist and composer as well
as a much respected pedagogue, Louise
Farrenc was a widely recognized musician
in her day. She ranks amongst the elite
in the small club of nineteenth century
women who rose to prominence as musicians.
This group included amongst others Clara
Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn Henselt.
It is perhaps a sad by-product of the
era that after her death in 1875 the
combination of political upheaval in
nineteenth century France, and the fact
that she was not, like her two famous
colleagues, attached in some way to
an equally famous male led to her rather
quick lapse into obscurity.
Thankfully, we live
now in an era in which musicians and
record producers seem hell-bent on recording
every note of music ever written. Consequently,
amongst the loads of dreck, we occasionally
land on a composer such as this one
who had something interesting to say,
and the technical and creative tools
at her disposal to say it well.
Louise Farrenc was
from all accounts a fine pianist, and
her works reflect a constant exploration
of ways to express herself through that
instrument. This disc presents a nice
little compendium of her chamber and
piano works, and is a welcome addition
to the repertoire. Opening with the
Nonette for strings and winds, this
is a work that owes a great deal to
the serenades of Mozart both structurally
and melodically. It also paves the way
for what Fauré would later accomplish
in terms of the expansion of the traditional
harmonic language. Although substantial
in length, it never runs out of ideas
and Farrenc writes in such a way that
keeps the listener’s attention throughout.
The performance is of the first order
and this group of soloists comes together
to form a taut, well-balanced and most
expressive ensemble.
The solo piano works
are not nearly as meaty as the two chamber
pieces, with the exception of the second
of the two samples from the Opus 26
etudes, which could easily rival Chopin
in its scope of emotion and its technical
demands.
The clarinet trio is
another fine work of substance, hinting
at the influence of Brahms with its
sweeping melodies and grand expressive
gestures from the piano. Again, the
ensemble is first rate. I do wish however,
that the applause at the end of the
performance had been edited out. Although
I greatly enjoy live performances, I
have always been of the opinion that
applause tarnishes a recording, and
it makes me jealous that I missed out
on the live experience. And, since the
applause was trimmed from all the other
works on these live concert recordings,
it was a bit of a shock to hear the
audience burst in after this excellent
performance. Said audience was thankfully
quiet during the music itself though.
Program notes are a
bit cursory. I would have liked to have
had a bit more analysis and description
of the music. Naïve, as usual,
have created a beautiful package presentation
for this disc, and the brief biographies
of this group of artists were appreciated.
This is a highly recommendable
disc, and a welcome set of additions
to the repertoire. This recording did
exactly what any good recording is supposed
to do, which is to entice me to seek
out more music by this fine and unjustly
neglected composer. Start here and enjoy
the exploration!
Kevin Sutton
Philippe Bernold, flute; François Leleux,
oboe; Roman Guylot, clarinet; André Cazalet,
horn; Gilbert Audin, bassoon; Guillaume Sutre,
violin; Miguel da Silva, viola; François
Salque, cello; Vincent Pasquier, double-bass;
Brigitte Engerer, piano; Jean-Frédéric
Neuburger, piano 
