GMG Classical Music Forum

The Music Room => Composer Discussion => Topic started by: The Emperor on July 21, 2007, 10:46:34 AM

Title: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: The Emperor on July 21, 2007, 10:46:34 AM
So any fans here?
I got to say i love his chamber music and piano works.
I actually prefer his nocturnes to chopin's, am i insane?  >:D

Discuss!
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Mark on July 21, 2007, 10:48:17 AM
For Faure, I'd go with his songs and his Requiem. :)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: The Emperor on July 21, 2007, 10:49:28 AM
Oh Yes, i absolutely love the requiem!
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Mark on July 21, 2007, 10:50:34 AM
Quote from: The Emperor on July 21, 2007, 10:49:28 AM
Oh Yes, i absolutely love the requiem!

Get the version on Naxos. More intimate (as Faure envisaged it, according to the sleevenotes) than many others I've heard. ;)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: The new erato on July 21, 2007, 11:03:19 AM
Quote from: The Emperor on July 21, 2007, 10:46:34 AM
.
I actually prefer his nocturnes to chopin's, am i insane?  >:D



No. Songs and chamber music primarily for me though,  am slowly getting aquainted with his piano music, so understated and bare with this powerful passion beneath the surface, occasionally erupting.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: PSmith08 on July 21, 2007, 11:41:50 AM
My preferred recording of Fauré's Requiem is Celibidache's on EMI (coupled with the Stravinsky Symphonie des psaumes). Celibidache manages to create a sound that is, to my ears, perfectly suited to the score. There is a sense of peace, created both by Fauré's decision to do without the fire-and-brimstone scenes and by Celibidache's careful phrasing and broad, architectural approach to it. It probably isn't too idiomatic, but I'm not enough of a Fauré scholar to make that call, but I think it's fairly true to the spirit of the score.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Harry on July 21, 2007, 12:21:53 PM
That would be the chambermusic, most of it anyway.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: BachQ on July 21, 2007, 12:41:18 PM
I love the Sanctus from the Requiem (http://www.buffnet.net/~ambrosia/icq/aniheart.gif)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: 71 dB on July 21, 2007, 01:07:09 PM
Quote from: The Emperor on July 21, 2007, 10:46:34 AM
So any fans here?
I got to say i love his chamber music and piano works.
I actually prefer his nocturnes to chopin's, am i insane?  >:D

Discuss!

Yeah, I am definitely fan of Fauré!

Stunning chamber music. It's not insane to prefer Fauré's Nocturnes to those of Chopin, I do that too.

Requiem is the most beautiful of then all.

Fauré is among the finest French composers.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: The Emperor on July 22, 2007, 04:52:14 AM
The 12 nocturne is just amazing, love the 1st aswell, the 2nd, hell they are all good.
I agree, you can see the chopin influence there, but to me he takes it to another level, so much more going on, much more exciting to my ears.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: 71 dB on July 22, 2007, 10:29:55 AM
Quote from: James on July 22, 2007, 04:45:24 AM
Faure's harmonic adventurousness and tendency for unexpected modulations create a dreamy, restless and elusive quality...

True, very true. Fauré's play on harmony is delicious!
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Mark on July 22, 2007, 01:44:16 PM
Quick 'heads-up' for fans of Faure's Requiem and Cantique de Jean Racine: I'm uploading both works from this Saturday's BBC Prom concert. In about 45 minutes or so, the links will be in the Proms 2007 thread. ;)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Josquin des Prez on July 30, 2007, 06:58:30 PM
Quote from: The Emperor on July 21, 2007, 10:46:34 AM
I actually prefer his nocturnes to chopin's, am i insane?  >:D

No, just boring.

Not that his piano music isn't great, though i tend to prefer his chamber works.

BTW, if you like Faure, don't miss out on George Enescu. The latter is to the first what Brahms was to Schumann...
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Solitary Wanderer on July 30, 2007, 07:18:54 PM
This is the only Faure that I have so far. The Requiem on SACD. Its sublime :)

(http://www.audaud.com/audaud/MAY04/hires/faureRequiem.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Tsaraslondon on July 30, 2007, 11:10:09 PM
Quote from: Solitary Wanderer on July 30, 2007, 07:18:54 PM
This is the only Faure that I have so far. The Requiem on SACD. Its sublime :)

(http://www.audaud.com/audaud/MAY04/hires/faureRequiem.jpg)

Exactly the performance of the Requiem I was going to suggest. It's the best of the 3 I own (the other 2 I have for their couplings) and I think the best I've ever heard.

I also love the Masques et Begamasgues suite and the Pelleas et Melisande suite. And the songs are just lovely, both to perform and listen to.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: val on July 31, 2007, 01:10:44 AM
I prefer Fauré's chamber music. The violin sonatas, in special the first, the superb piano Trio, the string Quartet, the two piano Quartets and, above all, the two piano Quintets, to me the absolute masterpieces of Fauré.

Regarding the songs I am not so enthusiastic. Some are beautiful, "Au cemitière", "La Bonne Chanson", "Mirages", but in general I prefer the songs of Duparc, Chausson or Ravel.

In the piano music, the best are the Nocturnes and the Thème et Variations.

The opera Penélope has very beautiful moments (almost all the 2nd act), but I think it has not the power, the dramatic urge that the subject would deserve.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Tsaraslondon on July 31, 2007, 05:37:15 AM
Quote from: val on July 31, 2007, 01:10:44 AM


Regarding the songs I am not so enthusiastic. Some are beautiful, "Au cemitière", "La Bonne Chanson", "Mirages", but in general I prefer the songs of Duparc, Chausson or Ravel.


I too love the songs of Duparc and Ravel, and also those of Debussy. But, though I do enjoy Chausson's songs, I would suggest that Faure was both more important as a song writer and more prolific. Apart from those you mention there are also such gems as Chanson d'Amour, Nell, the triptych Poeme d'un jour, Les berceaux, Notre amour, Les Roses d'Ispahan, Le secret, and, to my mind, the best rendition of Verlaine's Clair de lune. Other contributors will no doubt have other favourites. Fortunately, his song repertoire is well represented in the catalogue.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Larry Rinkel on August 01, 2007, 05:41:00 AM
The chamber music is superb. But I see no point in preferring Fauré's nocturnes to Chopin's, or vice versa.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: The Emperor on August 01, 2007, 09:55:30 AM
Quote from: Larry Rinkel on August 01, 2007, 05:41:00 AM
The chamber music is superb. But I see no point in preferring Fauré's nocturnes to Chopin's, or vice versa.
Yeh, no point, just a matter of taste, that's all.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Steve on August 02, 2007, 11:34:04 AM
I've always been rather fond of his piano sonatas.  :)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Solitary Wanderer on December 05, 2008, 11:07:34 AM
I'm looking for a recommendeation of his complete Nocturnes  :)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: SonicMan46 on December 05, 2008, 01:30:45 PM
Quote from: Solitary Wanderer on December 05, 2008, 11:07:34 AM
I'm looking for a recommendeation of his complete Nocturnes  :)

Hello Chris - I have the Kathryn Stott 4-CD set of Faure's Piano Works on Hyperion - rather pricey on Amazon @ the moment, and of course includes much more than the Nocturnes - she has gleamed a lot of praise for this series w/ some short comments on Hyperion HERE (http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/al.asp?al=CDA66911/4)!  I believe that I may have puchased this set from BRO at a great price a while back? -  :)

But in checking 'other offerings' of just the Nocturnes, several were of interest to me (shown below) - hopefully others know these works and can comment?  Also, there is the Brilliant set of complete piano works that I believe has been reviewed favorably here (and also on Amazon) - Dave  :D


(http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/66911.jpg)  (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VD90QCMWL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511C236QWVL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)  (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419TPTRY7HL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)  (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41UoLBlB3BL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Solitary Wanderer on December 05, 2008, 01:37:32 PM
Quote from: SonicMan on December 05, 2008, 01:30:45 PM
Hello Chris - I have the Kathryn Stott 4-CD set of Faure's Piano Works on Hyperion - rather pricey on Amazon @ the moment, and of course includes much more than the Nocturnes - she has gleamed a lot of praise for this series w/ some short comments on Hyperion HERE (http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/al.asp?al=CDA66911/4)!  I believe that I may have puchased this set from BRO at a great price a while back? -  :)

But in checking 'other offerings' of just the Nocturnes, several were of interest to me (shown below) - hopefully others know these works and can comment?  Also, there is the Brilliant set of complete piano works that I believe has been reviewed favorably here (and also on Amazon) - Dave  :D


(http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/66911.jpg)  (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VD90QCMWL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511C236QWVL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)  (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419TPTRY7HL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)  (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41UoLBlB3BL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

Thanks for that Dave  :)

I'd been doing the same research on Amazon as you  :D

The two box sets look excellent, but that could be too much Faure piano music at the moment.

The three single Nocturnes discs all look promising, with the EMI Collard leading the bunch at the moment [although there's only one used copy available].
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Kullervo on December 05, 2008, 04:17:17 PM
Don't forget his chamber music! Masterpieces in profusion.

I emphatically recommend this set:

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41S685VYS1L._SS400_.jpg)

This has the complete sonatas for violin and cello, complete piano quartets and quintets, the string quartet and several smaller (but still very worthy) pieces.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Que on December 06, 2008, 01:24:25 AM
Quote from: Corey on December 05, 2008, 04:17:17 PM
Don't forget his chamber music! Masterpieces in profusion.

I emphatically recommend this set:

Seconded!  :) Excellent & idomatic performances throughout this set.

Great that we now a Fauré thread btw. :)

Q
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: 71 dB on December 06, 2008, 01:50:28 AM
I have a funny feeling that very cheap 5 CD EMI box goes to my wishlist...  :P

It's weird how neglected Fauré's chamber much is (same as Elgar!). Years ago I emailed Klaus Heymann a list of repertoire ideas including Faurés Piano Quartets & Quintets. So far nothing has happened. In fact, I bought the Decca twofer of these works because I got tired of waiting for Naxos releases.  ;D
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Opus106 on December 06, 2008, 02:32:15 AM
Has anyone compared the EMI and Brilliant Classic boxes of Faure's chamber music? What do you think?
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Que on December 06, 2008, 03:19:48 AM
I've just discovered that EMI France also has a box set with the chamber music set above + the piano music with Collard (also on Brilliant) + one disc of mélodies with Von Stade:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RRBdqIAKL.jpg)

Or Collard & Von Stade separately for about the same price as the Brilliant set:
(http://multimedia.fnac.com/multimedia/images_produits/ZoomPE/5/2/9/5099950175925.jpg)

Q
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: SonicMan46 on December 06, 2008, 06:38:33 AM
Quote from: opus67 on December 06, 2008, 02:32:15 AM
Has anyone compared the EMI and Brilliant Classic boxes of Faure's chamber music? What do you think?

Well, I don't own either of the chamber boxes mentioned, but I do have 5 CDs of Faure's Chamber Works, so likely have most of what is in those packages; two of the discs that I do own are: 1) Nash Ensemble - Piano Quartets; and 2) Quintetto Faure di Roma - Piano Quintets - these are excellent performances.

In reviewing the Brilliant Classics description the following is stated "Excellent performances by the Quintetto Fauré di Roma, the Ames Piano Quartet, the Nash Ensemble, the duo Krysia Osostowicz/Susan Tomes." - I'm assuming that the company licensed the two sets of recordings mentioned above.  The Brilliant box is likely a winner!  :D
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Opus106 on December 06, 2008, 06:59:35 AM
Quote from: SonicMan on December 06, 2008, 06:38:33 AM
Well, I don't own either of the chamber boxes mentioned, but I do have 5 CDs of Faure's Chamber Works, so likely have most of what is in those packages; two of the discs that I do own are: 1) Nash Ensemble - Piano Quartets; and 2) Quintetto Faure di Roma - Piano Quintets - these are excellent performances.

In reviewing the Brilliant Classics description the following is stated "Excellent performances by the Quintetto Fauré di Roma, the Ames Piano Quartet, the Nash Ensemble, the duo Krysia Osostowicz/Susan Tomes." - I'm assuming that the company licensed the two sets of recordings mentioned above.  The Brilliant box is likely a winner!  :D

Thanks, Dave, for sharing your opinion. Now that Que has posted about the 10-CD set, it's going to be even tougher to choose between the sets, assuming the new one is "economically priced," and also if I can get hold of it somewhere.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Que on December 06, 2008, 07:19:29 AM
Quote from: opus67 on December 06, 2008, 06:59:35 AM
Thanks, Dave, for sharing your opinion. Now that Que has posted about the 10-CD set, it's going to be even tougher to choose between the sets, assuming the new one is "economically priced," and also if I can get hold of it somewhere.

Don't know if recording quality is an important consideration for you.
But just in case: the EMI chamber music set has recordings that are mostly from the late 60's and mid 70's.

Q
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Opus106 on December 06, 2008, 07:26:06 AM
Quote from: Que on December 06, 2008, 07:19:29 AM
Don't know if recording quality is an important consideration for you.
But just in case: the EMI chamber music set has recordings that are mostly from the late 60's and mid 70's.

Q

Not really an audiophile here. That's probably the average age of the recordings I have, i.e. the date of the original recordings - some of them were remastered much later. As long as it doesn't have noticeable hiss or things of that nature... :)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Solitary Wanderer on December 06, 2008, 01:45:06 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511C236QWVL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

I've just ordered this one on Amazon.

Complete Nocturnes on one disc and several great reviews so here goes...  :)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: SonicMan46 on December 06, 2008, 01:54:25 PM
Quote from: Solitary Wanderer on December 06, 2008, 01:45:06 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511C236QWVL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)  (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419TPTRY7HL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

I've just ordered this one on Amazon.  Complete Nocturnes on one disc and several great reviews so here goes...  :)

Chris - great!  Will be anxious to read your thoughts - I would not mind having another set of the Nocturnes - the CD ordered looks excellent from the reviews, as mentioned; but I was intrigued w/ the description on Amazon of the offering w/ Thyssens-Valentin as quoted below (and pictured added above) - these are from the '50s, so not sure about the sound quality - would love to hear some comments from others who may have heard and/or own these recordings?  :-\

QuoteGermaine Thyssens-Valentin is unfamiliar to most music lovers, but her 1950s series of Fauré recordings for an obscure French record label are among the best ever. They were made after she returned to concertizing from having abandoned a promising career to raise five children. Her affinity for Fauré's piano music is immediately apparent in the way she inhabits its inner core. The Nocturnes are elusive, reflective works, whose surface beauties conceal a world of deep, if understated, feeling. Like no other player in the catalogue, Thyssens-Valentin penetrates their depths, playing with gorgeous tone, brilliant technique that never calls attention to itself, and an attention to accompanying lines that give the music a rarely conveyed richness and density. In her Nocturne No. 3, for example, subsidiary lines are woven to enrich the melodic line in ways that make the version by Arthur Rubinstein (RCA) sound merely pretty. Her performances of other Nocturnes reveal that such contemporary pianists as Pascal Rogé (Decca) indulge in inappropriate Romantic excess, while Kathryn Stott (Hyperion) is unidiomatic and flat alongside Thyssens-Valentin's absolute "rightness." Great performances of great music. --Dan Davis
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Solitary Wanderer on December 06, 2008, 06:09:03 PM
Quote from: SonicMan on December 06, 2008, 01:54:25 PM
Chris - great!  Will be anxious to read your thoughts - I would not mind having another set of the Nocturnes - the CD ordered looks excellent from the reviews, as mentioned; but I was intrigued w/ the description on Amazon of the offering w/ Thyssens-Valentin as quoted below (and pictured added above) - these are from the '50s, so not sure about the sound quality - would love to hear some comments from others who may have heard and/or own these recordings?  :-\


Hi Dave: Yes I was interested in that title as well, but ultimately put off 'cause some reviewers complained that the sound wasn't up to snuff  :-\
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: not edward on December 07, 2008, 09:36:17 AM
Quote from: 71 dB on December 06, 2008, 01:50:28 AM
I have a funny feeling that very cheap 5 CD EMI box goes to my wishlist...  :P

It's weird how neglected Fauré's chamber much is (same as Elgar!). Years ago I emailed Klaus Heymann a list of repertoire ideas including Faurés Piano Quartets & Quintets. So far nothing has happened. In fact, I bought the Decca twofer of these works because I got tired of waiting for Naxos releases.  ;D
I think it should! I bought the box 2 or 3 years ago for next to nothing, and it's been a regular visitor to my CD player ever since...wonderful music.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: 71 dB on December 08, 2008, 05:13:06 AM
Quote from: edward on December 07, 2008, 09:36:17 AM
I think it should! I bought the box 2 or 3 years ago for next to nothing, and it's been a regular visitor to my CD player ever since...wonderful music.

If you look at the "purchases today" thread you'll see I not only put it in my wishlist but I bought it away!
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: The Six on December 08, 2008, 12:35:25 PM
The Nocturnes are interesting in how you can look at how he felt his life was deteriorating through them. The whole of the Nocturnes covers practically his whole life; the earlier ones are exceptional, of course, but still remain in a rather normal Romantic world. Then, minor keys dominate the later ones, and at least one comes about as close to atonality as you could get with Fauré.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: schweitzeralan on April 07, 2009, 10:30:49 AM
Certainly a well known, often performed, acknowledged French master whose comositins included, among others, orchestral, vocal, chamber, choral, et. al.  I'm just writing to determine what the forum opines about Faure.  I am working on the fairly well known "Romance Sans Paroles,"a work wich I find enchanting.  I've been listening to some of his "Nocturnes," most notably the one in "C# Minor," and the one in "B minor." My listening habits generally tend toward early to mid 20th century; just my thing.  I find that Faure's works are, for the most part, conceived within 19th century harmonies. Quite prolific to be sure. Yet I have discovered that some of his later works suggest 20th century "imagery" and style. What little I've heard impresses me.  Any comments on this major French compser?
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: bhodges on April 07, 2009, 10:42:38 AM
(Note: I have merged schweitzeralan's new post with an older existing thread.  Apparently the Search function here gives different results for "Fauré" and "Faure," i.e., without an accent.  My hunch is that people searching usually won't include the accent in the search box, so I didn't do so here.  Carry on!  :D)

--Bruce
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: orbital on April 07, 2009, 11:03:52 AM
Any views on his ballade for piano and orchestra?
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: schweitzeralan on April 07, 2009, 11:58:39 AM
Quote from: Que on April 07, 2009, 10:49:21 AM
NÖ åččèñt?  ??? Barbarism!! :o :o

;D

Q

Didn't have one on the keyboard.  Je le regrette.  Malgre (no accent)  le problem, j'aime les oevres de Faure.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: schweitzeralan on April 07, 2009, 12:21:19 PM
Quote from: bhodges on April 07, 2009, 10:42:38 AM
(Note: I have merged schweitzeralan's new post with an older existing thread.  Apparently the Search function here gives different results for "Fauré" and "Faure," i.e., without an accent.  My hunch is that people searching usually won't include the accent in the search box, so I didn't do so here.  Carry on!  :D)

--Bruce

Thanks, Bruce.  Should have checked out the thread.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: bhodges on April 07, 2009, 12:39:23 PM
Quote from: schweitzeralan on April 07, 2009, 12:21:19 PM
Thanks, Bruce.  Should have checked out the thread.

No, no, you're fine.  I wouldn't have thought to include the accent in his name, but the search box does it meticulously!  So if you searched for "Fauré" you'd only get that, and not "Faure." 

Perhaps I'll make an inquiry to Rob, since this is applicable to many composers (e.g., Bartók).

--Bruce
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: SonicMan46 on April 07, 2009, 03:04:57 PM
Quote from: orbital on April 07, 2009, 11:03:52 AM
Any views on his ballade for piano and orchestra?

Hello Orbital - the single disc below of Fauré's Orchestra Works is an excellent disc w/ Tortelier & the BBC Philharmonic; different soloists depending on the works w/ Kathryn Stott on the piano Ballade - listing of pieces included HERE (http://www.amazon.com/Faur%C3%A9-Orchestra-Works-Peter-Dixon/dp/B000000AY4/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239144900&sr=1-7) - Dave  :D


(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KXC7K297L._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: orbital on April 09, 2009, 08:57:14 AM
Thanks Dave. I'll look that up  :)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Mozart on June 18, 2009, 09:01:41 PM
Ive been exploring...so far i likey. His 1st piano quartet is great


and this too...
http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/mpgyTl8yqbw
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: karlhenning on July 09, 2009, 03:45:41 AM
Quote from: bhodges on April 07, 2009, 10:42:38 AM
(Note: I have merged schweitzeralan's new post with an older existing thread.  Apparently the Search function here gives different results for "Fauré" and "Faure," i.e., without an accent.

Hmph
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Herman on August 24, 2009, 04:56:48 AM
This is a tortured subject for me. I'm very fond of Fauré, particularly the music he wrote late in his life, such as his Nocturnes for piano solo, his 2nd violin sonata, the two cello sonatas, the two piano quintets and most of all, his two last pieces, the string quartet and the piano trio.

There are times I don't even think of this music (like Brahms and Reger, Fauré is a 'busy' composer and not on my most wanted list, like Mozart, Haydn, Chopin and Schumann), and there are times I listen to him every day. This is one of those times. I have listened to his string quartet almost every day for two months now.

Problem is, it is very hard to find fully satisfying recordings of this music.

String Quartet. I once heard this in a concert, I think by the Dutch Gaudeamus Quartet, about a million years ago in Rotterdam. Mesmerizing. However the best version on record I could get hold of was the Ad Libitum Quartet on Naxos. Recently I got the Ebene Quartet, which is quite good, too. The Via Nova Quartet (another French quartet) in the late seventies is not good. The Wigmore Hall recording by the Ysaye Quartet isn't really good either.

This music needs serenity without being soporific. The inherent extasy should be handled with great care. It turns out virtually no one gets it completely right.

The piano trio. Everyone knows the Beaux Arts Trio not the way to go here. Jean Hubeau and partners? Nope, see above. Basically I'm still with my old Rouvier. Kantorow and Muller recording.

The quintets, oh, don't even think about it.

So I know most people aren't even into this music, but those who do: what are your favorite recordings of these pieces, please?
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: DFO on August 24, 2009, 06:47:44 AM
If you aren't allergic to historical recordings, try those:
SQ: Pro-Arte SQ (1924)
Piano quartet No.2 op.45: Marguerite Long, J.Thibaud, Maurice Vieux and P.Fournier (1940)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Franco on August 24, 2009, 07:07:29 AM
I like the Domus in the piano quartets and quintet.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Herman on August 24, 2009, 10:15:39 AM
I don't know which mod, looking for action, put my Fauré initiative from the General section and put it here, without rhyme or reason.

May I suggest henceforth all Beethoven topics be buried on one Beethoven spot?
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: snyprrr on August 25, 2009, 08:37:09 AM
Quote from: Herman on August 24, 2009, 04:56:48 AM
This is a tortured subject for me.

Problem is, it is very hard to find fully satisfying recordings of this music.

String Quartet. I once heard this in a concert, I think by the Dutch Gaudeamus Quartet, about a million years ago in Rotterdam. Mesmerizing. However the best version on record I could get hold of was the Ad Libitum Quartet on Naxos. Recently I got the Ebene Quartet, which is quite good, too. The Via Nova Quartet (another French quartet) in the late seventies is not good. The Wigmore Hall recording by the Ysaye Quartet isn't really good either.

This music needs serenity without being soporific. The inherent extasy should be handled with great care. It turns out virtually no one gets it completely right.

The piano trio. Everyone knows the Beaux Arts Trio not the way to go here. Jean Hubeau and partners? Nope, see above. Basically I'm still with my old Rouvier. Kantorow and Muller recording.

The quintets, oh, don't even think about it.

So I know most people aren't even into this music, but those who do: what are your favorite recordings of these pieces, please?

Yes, sublime performances are elusive. I too went throught the SQ Sweepstakes many years ago. As I remember:

Medici/Nimbus... NOPE!

Parrenin/EMI...mmm...eh...ok, but...

cd w/Bridge,Milhaud,Faure...is this the StanfordSQ?...I hear good things about this.

Via Nova...NOPE! (check!)

Ysaye...Herman's is the second nix...NOPE! (EDIT: I think Herman meant the Wigmore/"live" recording with the bad sound. Sarge stands by the issue with the Magnard coupling.)
Lowenguth/VoxBox...this is what I currently have...it's good...it's ok

AdLibitum/Naxos...have to take Herman's word here...sounds interesting. (EDIT: there are some reviews that claim there is a "boominess" in the bass on this recording, though they seem to like the performance.)
MiamiSQ/Elan...I haaave heard pretty good things about this one. It comes with the 2 Saint-Saens SQs, and just for values' sake, this might be a keeper. (EDIT: Listening now.  Mmmm, it's probably not the very last word on the subject, but it is individual.)

EDIT: Quatour Ebene... have to take Herman's word here.

EDIT: Guarnieri SQ: they play Deb/Rav + Faure. Has anyone heard this?
Wow, brainfart...can't think of any more...



I do agree with Herman that apparently no one "gets" Faure. Ha, Herman, I'm laughing at your "Ben Stein" assessment, haha, very dead pan, very true!

I also had Collard's EMI (as I had the whole EMI shebang). It was good enough for me at the time, but I don't know how critical I could be about this repertoire.

Once again, if ANYONE has a definitive version of the SQ, I'd love to know it, though, as with Herman, I'm not quite sure. Perhaps the Lowenguth is the best bet (perhaps I'm biased against it because of its age (which I probably shouldn't be)). This is one area where we really need only expert opinions...only those who have heard 5 or more versions need apply!!!



Also, I have a delightful little DG disc with orchestral works, with Ozawa, I think. I keep it right next to a similar Grieg disc (DG; Jarvi). Those two cds are my "comfy zone" music for curling up with (cue Finzi!)!
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Sergeant Rock on August 25, 2009, 08:58:40 AM
Quote from: snyprrr on August 25, 2009, 08:37:09 AM
Also, I have a delightful little DG disc with orchestral works, with Ozawa, I think. I keep it right next to a similar Grieg disc (DG; Jarvi). Those two cds are my "comfy zone" music for curling up with (cue Finzi!)!

I can't help with the chamber music. I have very little, and only one version of the Quartet, the wrong version apparently  ;D  (Ysaye) I won't know what's wrong with it, though, until I hear something better (different?). In the meantime I'll remain blissfully ignorant as I listen to it.

But I second your Ozawa disc. That is utterly lovely, and gets my vote as the best thing Ozawa has ever done...although Barenboim's Pavane (also with chorus) digs deeper emotionally (but then this is Fauré and some may think getting too weepy is unidiomatic  ;) )

Sarge
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Herman on August 25, 2009, 10:08:57 AM
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on August 25, 2009, 08:58:40 AM
I can't help with the chamber music. I have very little, and only one version of the Quartet, the wrong version apparently  ;D  (Ysaye) I won't know what's wrong with it, though, until I hear something better (different?). In the meantime I'll remain blissfully ignorant as I listen to it.

Well, ça depend. My Ysaye recording is the live one in the Wigmore Hall series, with a very good Debussy. I find this version of the Fauré quartet a little too muscular, and the climax in the middle mvt is not pleasant to hear.

However it could well be their studio recording is much different and better.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Sergeant Rock on August 25, 2009, 11:02:51 AM
Quote from: Herman on August 25, 2009, 10:08:57 AM
However it could well be their studio recording is much different and better.

I do have the studio performance (it's coupled with the Magnard Quartet...which is the reason I bought the CD). I don't find it too muscular, but we may have different tolerances here, different expectations for the music. In any case I'll continue to monitor this thread for further recommendations.

Sarge
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Harpo on August 25, 2009, 01:35:06 PM
I have sung the Requiem--it is very pretty and satisfying, one of my favorite choral pieces.(I don't know what version we own.) I have also sung a number of his art songs. French is a little hard to sing in because of the nasal consonants--you have to fake them.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: SonicMan46 on August 25, 2009, 02:05:15 PM
Quote from: snyprrr on August 25, 2009, 08:37:09 AM
Yes, sublime performances are elusive. I too went throught the SQ Sweepstakes many years ago. As I remember:

MiamiSQ/Elan...I haaave heard pretty good things about this one. It comes with the 2 Saint-Saens SQs, and just for values' sake, this might be a keeper.

Wow, brainfart...can't think of any more...

Once again, if ANYONE has a definitive version of the SQ, I'd love to know it, though, as with Herman, I'm not quite sure.

Well, I intermittently 'cull through' my Faure Chamber Music collection, but have not done so in a while - hmmm; maybe now is the time!  :D

Regarding the String Quartet, I do own the Miami SQ (shown below) - have not listened to this disc in a while, so will give it a spin soon!   :)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/411FGAKM3VL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Herman on September 01, 2009, 07:51:19 AM
The last couple of days I have been listening to Fauré Nocturnes, by Eric Heidsieck. Particularly the last one, with it's wild Valkyrie Ride in the middle, and the sinking bass in the last two measures, is a stunning piece of music. Amazing, too, the way these opus numbers line up: Nocturne nr 13 is opus 119. The String Quartet is nr 120 and the Piano Trio is 121, and then it's all over.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Tomo on September 18, 2009, 06:16:57 PM
Ironically, the same disc I was listening to that prompted me to look up a thread on Faure, albeit I was on No. 12 when I finished and read your post (No. 13 is now fittingly playing).

Now, I'm thinking of getting the SACD Requiem mentioned on the first page of the thread. The Naxos version was the first Faure I ever purchased (Heidsieck's was the second) and I've never grown tired of it.  I've had DVD-A for years, but never a SACD player, but am about to order a blu-ray player that plays both and want an inaugural disc to play when I get it.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: ccar on September 19, 2009, 03:13:33 AM
Being a newbie in the Forum I was glad to discover a thread on Fauré. Obviously not a "popular" composer. I looked in the general recordings thread and in the opera and vocal and found only some references to the Requiem.

Although the general feeling in Fauré's music may be considered romantic I am touched by some sort of low-key expression but very profound intimacy. Perhaps to connect with his world and sensibility requires a voyage in time - À la recherche du temp perdu. But if you let yourself go there is indeed a very unique world to discover.
Like many I also feel it's very difficult for any interpreter to give the intimate ambiance and the very subtle colours of Fauré. It remembers me the Monteux saying during rehearsal - C'est une question de caractère. To get it I also tend to go to the old French-Belgian classic recordings already posted here (Pro Arte, Calvet, Lowenguth, Heidsieck, Thyssens-Valentin, Lefébure, Perlemuter, Doyen, Barbizet, Cortot, Samson François, ... ). The sound may be older but the music is usually more fresh and alive.  

Some of you also referred to the wonderful Fauré Melodies. But there are less mentions to interpreters-singers you may like or prefer in this repertoire - for me I will nominate Camille Maurane, Bernard Kruysen and Gerard Souzay.    

Carlos
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Herman on September 21, 2009, 01:17:00 AM
Well, Heidsieck's recordings aren't all that old. I've been thinking about geetting the Jean Doyen recording of the Piano Trio, do you happen to be familiar with that one? I'm getting mixed signals on his playing.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Florestan on September 21, 2009, 01:23:05 AM
Quote from: Herman on September 01, 2009, 07:51:19 AM
The last couple of days I have been listening to Fauré Nocturnes, by Eric Heidsieck. Particularly the last one, with it's wild Valkyrie Ride in the middle, and the sinking bass in the last two measures, is a stunning piece of music.

Yes indeed, it's one of the most beautiful and moving solo piano works ever penned.

Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: The new erato on September 21, 2009, 02:15:58 AM
I notice that this has been reissued. Any views?:

(http://www.mdt.co.uk/public/pictures/products/standard/2564688004.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: The new erato on September 21, 2009, 09:29:09 AM
Quote from: James on September 21, 2009, 08:46:45 AM
Lots of beautiful music in that - if the price is right, I'd say snap it up.
£ 10 at mdt.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: ccar on September 21, 2009, 05:44:56 PM
Quote from: Herman on September 21, 2009, 01:17:00 AM
Well, Heidsieck's recordings aren't all that old. I've been thinking about getting the Jean Doyen recording of the Piano Trio, do you happen to be familiar with that one? I'm getting mixed signals on his playing.


Yes, not that old indeed - Heidsieck Fauré Nocturnes are only a 50 year-old (1960-1962) vintage but the music is still very much alive. And the Fauré Barcaroles are more recent (1993) and also quite impressive.  
I don't Know if you already heard the Fauré (piano solo) by Jean Doyen. He is one of the "classic" Fauré interpreters with that subtle, understated elegance you may look for in this music. But, as others have said in this topic, it is never easy to give the Fauré "ambiance" you may dream of. Without any bright effects, the pastel colors of Doyen have been a rewarding experience for me. In this sense I do also reccomend the Piano Trio.

Carlos    
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Herman on September 22, 2009, 12:06:39 AM
After I had posted I looked at my copy of Heidsieck's Nocturnes and saw they were indeed that old. He was barely 25 years old when that recording was made. Looks like he's got quite a following in Japan.

I will get the Doyen / Pasquier recording of the piano trio. I have no recording that satisfies in all 3 parts. What I find interesting is that French performers are often not that 'pastel' in their interpretations of this piece. The Hubeau / Gallois-Montbrun / Navarra version, for instance, is rather strident and fierce at times.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: schweitzeralan on September 25, 2009, 05:24:40 AM
Quote from: Florestan on September 21, 2009, 01:23:05 AM
Yes indeed, it's one of the most beautiful and moving solo piano works ever penned.



Faure's music is quite lovely.  To me he forms a sort of bridge between the 19th ad 20th centuries.  is tonal "language" for the most part succeeds on a parallel level to the late 19th century masters: Liszt, Wagner, Frank, Saint-Sans, D'Indy, early Debussy.  Yet many chords, harmonies, modal structures are developed and conceived within the emerging 20th century "advanced tonality," to quote a critical study I read some time ago. So many subtleties in Faure do reflect that quintessential French quality of  modal sounds and colors. As previously stated, I Love his "Nocturnes." I'm glad this thread was reactivated.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Herman on September 27, 2009, 01:50:57 PM
After lots of listening, and getting the Leipzig String Quartet's version of Fauré's Op 121, too, I think I can say that I've really come to like the Quatuor Ebene's version. Virtually no SQ gets the first movement better, more rapt and intense. I would only wish they'd done the last mvt just a tad more easy, but they don't. Over the entire piece, however, the phrasing is always perfect, well thought out and intensily felt.

(http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00059/IN6417026Quatuor-Ebe_59639t.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure SQ
Post by: snyprrr on October 02, 2009, 10:19:20 AM
Quote from: Herman on September 27, 2009, 01:50:57 PM
After lots of listening, and getting the Leipzig String Quartet's version of Fauré's Op 121, too, I think I can say that I've really come to like the Quatuor Ebene's version. Virtually no SQ gets the first movement better, more rapt and intense. I would only wish they'd done the last mvt just a tad more easy, but they don't. Over the entire piece, however, the phrasing is always perfect, well thought out and intensily felt.

(http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00059/IN6417026Quatuor-Ebe_59639t.jpg)

I just got the MiamiSQ/Conifer disc. My first reaction is that the first mvmt. sounds pretty unique. Are they taking it exceptionally slow? I don't have the Loewenguth handy to compare, but here are the Miami's timings:

Allegro moderato- 5:41
Andante- 8:30
Allegro- 7:46

Also, I dooo remember the slow mvmt., and the Miami's seems to take it very fast (though, it seems to work!). I think the Loewenguth is @11mins here. However, the Miami do have a certain "sound" that makes this all seems to work (I say "seem" only because of the controversy here). Ah, I wish I'd have kept the Parrenin for a compare.

Why is this music so elusive? The lines do have a certain plasticity that perhaps can withstand the amount of torture that they undergo in certain readings... however, I'm in the same boat with Herman here on trying to find the bible version. Though this Miami version seems pretty good on the face of it, I'm still getting that feeling that they just aren't TOTALLY inside this piece... hey, I could be wrong... I'm starting to wonder if this music is written in such a way as to make one hear things, haha!

I say, Keep the Faure SQ discussion alive until we get to the bottom of it all!
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Herman on October 02, 2009, 11:03:15 AM
Based on the clock timing I'd say it's definitely not slow. Most recordings I know clock in well over 6 minutes. Reading the clock is however not what it's about.

I think I'm done with my Fauré SQ research now (though I wouldn't mind finding a link to the Löwenguth recording). This week I added the studio Ysaye to my little collection (it's not as rough as the live one from Wigmore Hall). It's interesting; in all likelyhood the Ebène SQ studied this piece with the Ysaye, but the younger band delivers a much more thought-out version. The way the 1st mvt coda slowly and surely explodes with the Ebène is just amazing. It's also interesting because doing the Fauré is clearly not what the Ebène wanted most with this disc. They wanted to record Ravel and Debussy. And yet the Fauré turns out the be the most succesful piece on the disc  -  one should get it just for the Fauré.

The booklet of the Ysaye's Magnard / Faure cd is magnificent. It answers most of Snip's questions.

Next is the Piano Trio. Today I got the Jean Doyen / Pasquier version for 1964. Though the first mvt is nice, I have to say on first blush the middle mvt sounds rather to slow and plodding. Overall I get the feeling Doyen is as much performing the music as demonstrating what the composer wrote, didactically. But these are first impressions. I get the feeling a really ideal version of this piece is even more elusive.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: snyprrr on October 02, 2009, 11:45:51 AM
The Loewenguth is on that cheapo VoxBox. Surely it's on Amazon somewhere. Plus it's got them doing the Roussel, also.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Herman on October 03, 2009, 01:03:37 PM
Well, the Quatuor Ebène was just awarded the Classic Fm / Gramophone Record of the Year Award, if that means anything. But I agree their Fauré is simply amazing, and their Ravel is very good, too.

I listened to the Jean Doyen version of the Piano Trio again, this evening, and it is a rather interesting take. The middle movement is too slow, but still it is quite fascinating in its quiet relentlessness. The first movement is good, too. The strange thing is, the third mvt sounds like it's recorded in another space. Very strange.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Tomo on October 03, 2009, 02:11:45 PM
Had never heard of Ebène Quartet prior to this, but, as more astute minds than myself appeared high in their praise, I went over to Amazon and listened to some clips  :-[ to get some feel for their sound.  Was pretty knocked out by their precision, dynamics, and especially their rhythmical magic.  

Wanted to see them live.  Found their website and very much wished I lived in Europe as that's where they're doing their touring. I think just one of the dates from now through December listed Faure. I just hope for the opportunity some day as this young group is like a stallion in the making.

At their site, they have samplings from their recordings.  Not the 30 second clip type, but major portions of their work.  I will try out their Haydn for sure.  It was very impressive.  With Bartok, the coda of his third string quartet was unlike the recordings I've heard, although that would only be two and I own but one set.

I'm sick today and maybe a couple of downloads would be just the medicine to make me all better.  ;D

Ebène Quartet, the Mondavi Center in Davis, California is a first-rate venue and I'll pledge to buy tickets for my entire family if you come, so please do. :)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: SonicMan46 on October 03, 2009, 02:31:16 PM
Quote from: James on October 03, 2009, 07:42:54 AM
I'll have to dust off the wallet and check this one out, since Doyen's Fauré complete solo piano set is definitive I figured his recording of the Piano Trio would be worth recommending...I haven't heard it myself, but want to eventually.

Hi James - interested in your comment on the Jean Doyen 'Solo Piano' offering - seems to be not available on Amazon USA - have not check 'off shore' yet; now I own Kathryn Stott's 4-CD box set which has received some excellent but mixed reviews (purchased this for just over $20 from BRO, so not a big investment and could be persuaded to change); the Collard Brilliant set has received some 'high fives' also!

Now, I've not heard any Collard yet - so would appreciate any comments from all who may have made some comparisons - love Faure and would enjoy obtaining some more solo piano discs, either as replacements or supplements! Dave  :D
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Tomo on October 04, 2009, 06:01:38 PM
If anyone is interested, there is a short (16 minute) documentary on YouTube of Quatuor Ebene recording their debut album of the Ravel, Faure, and Debussy string quartets.  Here's a link.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Hywiv8jXU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Hywiv8jXU).

You Tube also has a  boss video to them doing the surf music from Pulp Fiction in a concert venue in France.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich on October 07, 2009, 11:42:09 PM
To me, Fauré means exclusively Pavane Op. 50 and the Requiem. Requiem - both Herreweghe ones. I very often listen to "Introit et Kyrie", "Pie Jesu" and "Libera me". It's fun singing Libera me in the bathtub or in the car. But only works in the morning, I have a deeper voice then :)
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Herman on October 09, 2009, 05:41:04 AM
Quote from: Herman on October 03, 2009, 01:03:37 PM
I listened to the Jean Doyen version of the Piano Trio again, this evening, and it is a rather interesting take. The middle movement is too slow, but still it is quite fascinating in its quiet relentlessness. The first movement is good, too. The strange thing is, the third mvt sounds like it's recorded in another space. Very strange.

I have gotten used to the Doyen recording now, and though I would not call it ideal, it is one to have (among others).

I'm going to quote from the booklet of the Magnard - Fauré quartet disc by the Quatuor Ysaye. It's an excellent little essay on the particular characteristics of late Fauré by Bernard Fournier, and I'm quoting just one sentence:

"More than the transformations of the material, as in Beethoven, more than the the colours and the sparkling of its setting, as in Ravel, it is indeed the light of the material that interest Fauré, The multiple harmonic lighting (modulations) that he brings to bear on it, and the polyphonic combinations to which he subjects it transcend the material, which then shines forth like an inner rainbow."

This is why some of the newer interpretations are occasionally more satisfying than the older ones, because this concept of keeping it light seems to be largely absent from the previous generations, even though Fauré gave such a big hint in his most celebrated work, the Requiem, the one requiem without a funeral.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Scarpia on December 13, 2009, 02:12:31 PM
Faure's Ballade is truly a great work, full of singing melody, counterpoint, interesting harmonies, and a compelling "argument" that takes from from the beginning to the end.  I listened to Kathryn Stott's recording on Hyperion (wonderful, except for the fact that the piano she uses for the entire set of recordings has a bad hammer).  For me the version for solo piano is far superior to the version adapted for piano and orchestra that Faure prepared some years later (I listened to the orchestral version also with Stott).   The more I become familiar with Faure the higher my esteem rises.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Scarpia on December 22, 2009, 03:45:38 PM
Anyone here familiar with Faure's Penelope?
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Guido on December 25, 2009, 10:25:12 AM
I was about to posit exactly the same question as you Scarpia when I saw your post.

Why is it so rarely mentioned or performed? Its so late - everything else from this period is Great with a capital G so I'm curious.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Guido on December 25, 2009, 10:52:47 AM
Quote from: James on December 25, 2009, 10:35:07 AM
As with most opera I don't like all of it but it's got some wonderful stuff in it, i'd recommend the recording that was mentioned on the previous page.

OK cheers James. I'll check it out.

Opera as a genre didn't do anything for me for a long time, but actually seeing it on the stage (Le Grand Macabre, Bluebeard's Castle, Jenufa) changed all that.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: snyprrr on January 20, 2010, 06:28:15 PM
Sorry, but I'm going to totally open up the can o' worms that is the SQ.  I'm just writing this post for my own convenience later. So far I've come up with:

Valvet
ProArte
Loewenguth (Vox; 1966)
Parrenin(EMI; late '60s, early '70s?)

Via Nova (Erato)
Viotti
Medici (Nimbus)
Rosamunde (Pierre Verany)
Stanford (w/Bridge and Milhaud)
Gaggini (w/Tournmier(?) and Chausson)

Parisii
Leipizer (MDG; with Ravel(?) and Caplet (Conte Fantatsque))
Ysaye I ("live @Wigmore)
Ysaye II (w/Magnard)
Dante (Hyperion; w/Franck)

Miami
Ebene

Ad Libitum (Naxos)



I'm going to hold off for now until I get a few more compares in, but I just got the Ebene from the library today. Yea, it's pretty fine altogether (incl. the Debussy and Ravel), but, as I was comparing with the Miami I noticed a lot of give and take between the two in terms of perceived correctness. I almost wish someone would just get over the hump and make a suuuper slow version, instead of everyone just playing around it. I mean, I'm not complaining; I'm starting to think that the music is written in such a way that it is "elastic" and needs some kind of "pulling", like taffy, which everyone does, of course, but in their own way.

A funny thing that the Ebene take 6:30 in the first mvmt., and sound pretty slow in the first few notes, and the Loewenguth clock in at 7:04 and yet are playing faster???Whaaat? ??? Very interesting! The Miami clock in at 5:40, which is ok if you're playing the first mvmt. in the "fast" mode (though, it could be a touch quicker perhaps, if there was a group light enough out there). The Ebene sound like they're taking the "slow" road, but like I said, they're not really. I could imagine someone playing this around 8:00; that might be slow enough to truly pull the taffy, haha.

Seriously, I do wonder, was Faure a narcotic, or opium user, or anything?,... I'm just thinking his music seems to come out of "that" kind of suspended tempo, like, you reallly have to make every single not bleed its' fluffy little pink cloud to make it sound right. This music sounds so perfectly tortured.

In the slow mvmt. the Ebene take the "slow" road (though, not slow enough for me), whereas the Miami and Loewenguth take the "fast" road. The Ebene and Miami both clock in at 7:46 in the finale, and here the differences are interesting (more later). I have seen finales go up to 9:00, which, I find pretty slow indeed.

Hopefully I will get to the bottom of this soon.

I just wish someone did it my way, wah ::)!
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: snyprrr on January 25, 2010, 08:10:50 PM
I just got that Magnard/Faure disc everyone else seems to have, and my, it is very well recorded, isn't it?

So I'm comparing the slow mvmt. between the Ebene, Miami, Loewenguth, & Ysaye, and it appears the madness has only just begun. At this point, the Ebene (10:06)are the only I have that take the "slow" road, though, for me, they don't take it just quite slow enough to really milk every note (which is why one would play it in "slow" mode).

The Miami (8:30)are the opposite, playing faster, yet perhaps not as silvery as one might want to be if one were to be playing this slow mvmt in the "fast" mode. They just about get the palpitating just so. They have a little extra passion in places that's winning. Still, I'm left with a desire for just a little more something.

The Ysaye (8:59) get the palpitations just there in the excited heartbeat mode. They pull every note of the music just enough, without any affectation, really. They definitely sound like a yearning little forest creature. And the plush recording sets the music in the best possible acoustic (not too much).

The Loewenguth (9:42), at just a hair slower than the Ysaye, seem to get the architectural timing just so, very square and understandable, yet of course don't give as much pleasure in the recording department. There is a little harshness in the big yearning climaxes. I find myself not wanting to hear through to the end.

I think I saw that the Gaggini clock in around 11mins. Who knows, at that speed, what revelations might be in store? If one plays it right, the music is of such quality that I think it can withstand the stretching. Perhaps it's this elastic quality that makes this music so difficult to nail?

There are still a couple of versions I'd like to hear, but, at this point, I think the Ysaye's sound gives them a slight edge over the Ebene (the Ebene are a little farther away,...just a touch; the Ysaye are right there). I think overall, too, the Ysaye have just a little more passion here. The Ebene do have a certain sublimity though; and, of course, their entire album makes for a pretty perfect picture (how did they get over 80mins??). Frankly, I think the Magnard is a better discmate for the Faure.

The more I listen to this slow mvmt, the more I just want to hear every note milked to the ultimate.
Title: Re: What are you listening to?
Post by: SonicMan46 on April 09, 2010, 05:05:28 PM
Quote from: Coopmv on April 09, 2010, 04:15:40 PM
Now playing CD2 from this set, which arrived from MDT early in the week ...

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VD90QCMWL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)  (http://pinkysmusic.toypark.in/cdartist/albums1/discimg/faure3f.png%5Bimg%5D)  (http://pinkysmusic.toypark.in/cdartist/albums1/discimg/faure3f.png)

Stuart - are you enjoying this set?

I have the 'complete set' of these works w/ Kathryn Stott (image inseted above) - I thought that I was OK w/ a fine collection, then others complained about Stott (possibly, Todd?) - another pianist appeared on my 'wish list' including Doyen (not available?) - so now I'm confused, i.e. love Faure's Piano Music but I want the BEST interpretation - any help from our members?  Please - Dave -  ;D
Title: Re: What are you listening to?
Post by: Coopmv on April 09, 2010, 05:37:10 PM
Quote from: SonicMan on April 09, 2010, 05:05:28 PM
Stuart - are you enjoying this set?

I have the 'complete set' of these works w/ Kathryn Stott (image inseted above) - I thought that I was OK w/ a fine collection, then others complained about Stott (possibly, Todd?) - another pianist appeared on my 'wish list' including Doyen (not available?) - so now I'm confused, i.e. love Faure's Piano Music but I want the BEST interpretation - any help from our members?  Please - Dave -  ;D

Indeed, this set by Collard has been quite good and I have had no experience with Collard prior to this set.  I am hoping to pick up the Chopin Nocturnes by Kathryn Stott.  She is a frequent concert partner with Yo Yo Ma who I do not particularly like as a cellist, i.e. he over-romanticized many works ...
Title: Re: Re: What are you listening to?
Post by: Scarpia on April 09, 2010, 05:44:30 PM
Quote from: SonicMan on April 09, 2010, 05:05:28 PM
Stuart - are you enjoying this set?

I have the 'complete set' of these works w/ Kathryn Stott (image inseted above) - I thought that I was OK w/ a fine collection, then others complained about Stott (possibly, Todd?) - another pianist appeared on my 'wish list' including Doyen (not available?) - so now I'm confused, i.e. love Faure's Piano Music but I want the BEST interpretation - any help from our members?  Please - Dave -  ;D

There is nothing wrong with Stott, although I am somewhat put off by the fact that the piano she is using seems to have a bad hammer in some of the recordings.    The Collard set, which is licensed from EMI is also top notch.  I have the EMI edition of these recordings and one problem is that the audio engineering makes the piano sound a bit to bright and brittle for my taste.

Doyen is somewhat of a mystery, it was recorded by Erato, disappeared from the catalog almost immediately, has never been reissued, and seems to have sold very poorly, judging by how rarely a used copy turns up.  I'll admit to being curious about it.  If you want to hear Doyen in Faure there is an inexpensive issue chamber music featuring Doyen playing Faure

(http://www.mdt.co.uk/public/pictures/products/standard/5046669762.jpg)

Erato seems to put much more faith in their Hubeau cycle, which is now available in an attractive and inexpensive edition.

(http://www.mdt.co.uk/public/pictures/products/standard/2564699236.jpg)

I've not heard it, but I am concerned that Hubeau may have been past his prime when these recordings were made.

Title: Re: Re: What are you listening to?
Post by: SonicMan46 on April 09, 2010, 06:02:11 PM
Quote from: Scarpia on April 09, 2010, 05:44:30 PM
There is nothing wrong with Stott, although I am somewhat put off by the fact that the piano she is using seems to have a bad hammer in some of the recordings.    The Collard set, which is licensed from EMI is also top notch.  I have the EMI edition of these recordings and one problem is that the audio engineering makes the piano sound a bit to bright and brittle for my taste.

Doyen is somewhat of a mystery..........................

Hello Scarpia - thanks for the comments above - guest that I'll stick w/ Stott until something newer comes along - not diasspointed at all by her perfromances - Dave   :D
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Florestan on April 10, 2010, 12:44:17 AM
Another vote for Stott here.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: Josquin des Prez on April 10, 2010, 07:33:20 AM
Quote from: SonicMan on October 03, 2009, 02:31:16 PM
Hi James - interested in your comment on the Jean Doyen 'Solo Piano' offering - seems to be not available on Amazon USA - have not check 'off shore' yet; now I own Kathryn Stott's 4-CD box set which has received some excellent but mixed reviews (purchased this for just over $20 from BRO, so not a big investment and could be persuaded to change); the Collard Brilliant set has received some 'high fives' also!

The Jean Doyen is the definitive set. I like it better then either the Kathryn Scott (too mechanical) or the Jean-Philippe Collard (too damn boring at times). IMHO at any rate.
Title: Re: Gabriel Faure
Post by: 71 dB on April 11, 2010, 01:24:10 AM
Quote from: Josquin des Prez on April 10, 2010, 07:33:20 AMThe Jean Doyen is the definitive set.
Too bad that set is £57.02+shipping on amazon.  ??? I'll be happy with the few Naxos discs I have.

Ever since I came to this forum all this talk about the best performances have driven me crazy. In popular music things are so easy, there is usually one version and that's it. In classical music it is a mess. Am I the only one who finds this mind-boggling?
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Scarpia on April 11, 2010, 06:41:33 AM
Doyen is out of print, there had been one used copy on amazon.com, now it is gone, perhaps someone from this site bought it.  As far as I have been able to find, the number of used copies available in all of the global amazon sites can be counted on one hand, all at unreasonable prices.  We couldn't all get copies even if we were willing to spend the money.  If you find the set on any amazon site, there will be only one customer review or more likely no customer reviews at all.   In the software business this would be called "vaporware."  The rare people that have a copy can inflate their self-perceived prestige by claiming it is the definitive version.  Since no one can find a copy, who can disagree?

The fact is that when Erate decided to release a Faure complete piano set the passed over Doyen and release their Hubeau set instead.   If they decide to release Doyen at an attractive price point I'd be interested, but I think the prospects are dim (do they need two Faure cycles in their catalog?).  If it turns up on one of those illegal downloading sites I'd be tempted.  But until then, Stott is superb, Collard is a welcome contrast.

In any case, there is also a Paul Crossley cycle, now also out of print.   >:(
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: abidoful on May 24, 2010, 09:02:43 PM
I like Faure. I always thought of him as a miniaturist little bit in the way Chopin was, and so I was little surprised when I found out he did compose also operas (more than one?).
Somehow his works for solo piano have left me quite cold (perhaps not so good performances??)  but I was charmed, I remember, when I first- a long time ago- heard some of he's songs (a la fontaine, apres un reve). Such sweet music; interesting, delicious!
Then I found out that he had composed quite a few chamber works and so I listened them. Wow...! Nice pieces for violin and piano (a berceuse) and a lovely Trio.

Faure is astonishingly melodic; not just one great tune, but quite a few- songs, Trio, violin pieces... :o

Looking forward to  have a more fuller knowledge of his work- to know him also as an orchestral composer. Anyway, a fascinating musical personality, perhaps reminding little Edward Grieg-sort of lyric- but in the light of his chamber works, the description "Brahms of France" seems also justified.  He seems to have been  one of those who also continued the great tradition of Chopin in his piano Barcarolles, Nocturnes, preludes and Impromptus... ::)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: listener on May 24, 2010, 09:19:52 PM
Quote from: abidoful on May 24, 2010, 09:02:43 PM
I like Faure. I always thought of him as a miniaturist little bit in the way Chopin was, and so I was little surprised when I found out he did compose also operas (more than one?).


2 operas: Promethée  op. 12   that I've not seen a recording of, and Pénélope that was on Erato
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Scarpia on May 24, 2010, 11:07:04 PM
Quote from: listener on May 24, 2010, 09:19:52 PM
...and Pénélope that was on Erato

Unfortunately it was directed by Dutoit, who has a unique talent for tuning champagne into apple sause.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Herman on May 25, 2010, 03:39:31 AM
I have Doyen in the chamber music disc, and his Piano Trio is quite good.

I have Hubeau in the complete chamber music, and it's good, but it has as yet not totally won me over. Obviously this could have several reasons.

If you're looking for piano solo I would indeed not be frustrated about inobtainable recordings one or two people claim to be the ultimate. What I would do (and have done) is get Eric Heidsieck's cd with the complete Nocturnes, available in Japan, and relax. And then you can get the other Heidsieck recordings.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: abidoful on May 25, 2010, 05:48:06 AM
Quote from: abidoful on May 24, 2010, 09:02:43 PM
Somehow his works for solo piano have left me quite cold (perhaps not so good performances??)
Perhaps I should try Jean-Philipp Collard. He was playing on those discs of Faure's chamber music and was very good.
Quote from: abidoful on May 24, 2010, 09:02:43 PM
Wow...! Nice pieces for violin and piano (a berceuse)

Faure is astonishingly melodic; not just one great tune, but quite a few- songs, Trio, violin pieces... :o
I looked, and noticed that this Berceuse is a version for violin and piano of the slow movement of his Violin Concerto (!)----- Faure wrote A VIOLIN CONCERTO?!? He keeps surprising me :o Does anyone actually know that piece?
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Scarpia on May 25, 2010, 06:19:35 AM
Quote from: abidoful on May 25, 2010, 05:48:06 AM
Perhaps I should try Jean-Philipp Collard. He was playing on those discs of Faure's chamber music and was very good.I looked, and noticed that this Berceuse is a version for violin and piano of the slow movement of his Violin Concerto (!)----- Faure wrote A VIOLIN CONCERTO?!? He keeps surprising me :o Does anyone actually know that piece?

Don't get to excited, just a fragment.  I have it on a Hyperion disc of "French rarities" I believe.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: abidoful on May 25, 2010, 07:37:35 AM
Quote from: Scarpia on May 25, 2010, 06:19:35 AM
Don't get to excited, just a fragment.  I have it on a Hyperion disc of "French rarities" I believe.
So it's little like his Symphony, only a fragment? Oh, what a shame- I was already wating for something like another Sibelius Violin Concerto  :( :-[
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Herman on May 25, 2010, 12:23:42 PM
Balanchine incorporated the Pelléas sicilienne in the first, green part of Jewels, entirely set to Fauré's music, Emeralds. It's the part I love best, and I'm rather suprised there is none of Emeralds on youtube, even though tere's a Paris version of the ballet on DVD.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Franco on May 25, 2010, 01:21:28 PM
For me, what I love by Fauré is 1st - the Requiem.  After than, the Mélodies, and chamber music: piano trio (!) & the two piano quartets, #2 especially.
Title: Re: Re: What are you listening to?
Post by: Drasko on May 25, 2010, 02:23:58 PM
Quote from: Scarpia on April 09, 2010, 05:44:30 PM
Doyen is somewhat of a mystery, it was recorded by Erato, disappeared from the catalog almost immediately, has never been reissued, and seems to have sold very poorly, judging by how rarely a used copy turns up.  I'll admit to being curious about it. 

I've not heard it, but I am concerned that Hubeau may have been past his prime when these recordings were made.

There is a lot of both Doyen and Hubeau Faure on youtube (maybe even complete nocturnes by both) if you want to sample.
Title: Re: Re: What are you listening to?
Post by: Herman on May 25, 2010, 03:09:06 PM
Quote from: Drasko on May 25, 2010, 02:23:58 PM
There is a lot of both Doyen and Hubeau Faure on youtube (maybe even complete nocturnes by both) if you want to sample.

Cool. They weren't there the previous time I checked Fauré piano music on YT. It's interesting to compare these pianists side by side.
Title: Re: Re: What are you listening to?
Post by: Scarpia on May 25, 2010, 03:15:05 PM
Quote from: Herman on May 25, 2010, 03:09:06 PM
Cool. They weren't there the previous time I checked Fauré piano music on YT. It's interesting to compare these pianists side by side.

I found flac files of the Doyen Faure cycle in the blogsphere.  Hubeau is not a problem, since Warner re-issued it.
Title: Re: Re: What are you listening to?
Post by: Bulldog on May 25, 2010, 03:21:29 PM
Quote from: Scarpia on May 25, 2010, 03:15:05 PM
I found flac files of the Doyen Faure cycle in the blogsphere.  Hubeau is not a problem, since Warner re-issued it.

Who's the trouble maker who changed the thread title?  I'm getting confused.
Title: Faure's flop-house
Post by: Scarpia on May 25, 2010, 04:37:14 PM
Quote from: Bulldog on May 25, 2010, 03:21:29 PM
Who's the trouble maker who changed the thread title?  I'm getting confused.

Drasko, apparentl, maybe this will fix it
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Herman on May 26, 2010, 12:51:47 AM
Someone posted a lot of Jean Doyen's unobtainable Fauré recordings on YT, wonderful, and here for instance is the entire Op 103 Preludes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP7NCbUi-40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaMzeWKrEvY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06D87syd9dU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5ivILTRx4M&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCjI1-HoBDg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncknhYmrwGw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIHGjLQQ_cs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMabu1z990w&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPVCc7uK1fQ&feature=related

Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Herman on May 26, 2010, 01:03:09 AM
And here is Jean Hubeau (totally different sound and style of playing) in the Barcarolles 9 seqq.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfU05G3kZAQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84TWyVRqu6k&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdiVWhiY_sM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA_5PmMiys8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpKTJ81TNfA&feature=related

Personally I cannot say I find these the most compelling accounts, I would prefer the more Heidsieck's lighter approach.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Sid on September 22, 2010, 11:40:51 PM
I have been listening to Faure's Requiem a lot these days, ahead of a live performance of it here in Sydney this coming weekend. It's not a work that immediately grabbed me, but after the third listen, I began to appreciate it more. I really like how he uses the strings in this work - as a contrast to the voice. It is a very lyrical work, and the only moment of tragedy is the dies irae, which doesn't have a whole movement to itself, it appears as part of another movement. The pivotal violin solo (I have the original chamber version) does sound a little sentimental (it's almost as if Andre Rieu has briefly stepped into the room!), but what a lovely melody it plays. Written in the 1880's, this is a complete antithesis to the grandeur and pomp of someone like Wagner.

The other works on the tape are Faure's Messe Basse (the Low Mass) and eight of his motets. I hear a similiarity in the simplicity and directness of this music to guys like Arvo Part. Stylistically they are quite different, but I think that they both bring about a more subdued and intimate mood. I'm looking forward to the concert, and the accompanying work can be no more different - Vivaldi's Gloria.

I haven't heard much of his other music, and will go (if I can) to a lecture/recital by pianist Roy Howat tomorrow at the Sydney Con (it's free), who will play Chopin, Faure and Debussy. That will be interesting, because I have heard plenty of the piano works of the other two, but not Faure...
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: mc ukrneal on September 23, 2010, 06:50:10 AM
Quote from: Sid on September 22, 2010, 11:40:51 PM
I have been listening to Faure's Requiem a lot these days, ahead of a live performance of it here in Sydney this coming weekend. It's not a work that immediately grabbed me, but after the third listen, I began to appreciate it more. I really like how he uses the strings in this work - as a contrast to the voice. It is a very lyrical work, and the only moment of tragedy is the dies irae, which doesn't have a whole movement to itself, it appears as part of another movement. The pivotal violin solo (I have the original chamber version) does sound a little sentimental (it's almost as if Andre Rieu has briefly stepped into the room!), but what a lovely melody it plays. Written in the 1880's, this is a complete antithesis to the grandeur and pomp of someone like Wagner.

The other works on the tape are Faure's Messe Basse (the Low Mass) and eight of his motets. I hear a similiarity in the simplicity and directness of this music to guys like Arvo Part. Stylistically they are quite different, but I think that they both bring about a more subdued and intimate mood. I'm looking forward to the concert, and the accompanying work can be no more different - Vivaldi's Gloria.

I haven't heard much of his other music, and will go (if I can) to a lecture/recital by pianist Roy Howat tomorrow at the Sydney Con (it's free), who will play Chopin, Faure and Debussy. That will be interesting, because I have heard plenty of the piano works of the other two, but not Faure...

Oh you lucky bastard! That is my favorite requiem. I find the entire sound world will shift depending on the voices - children's choir or adult choir and the nature of some of the voices (usually the higher ones). The impact changes at least. I find that youthful voices work much better. Still, it is EXTREMELY moving in person. Did I mention you're a lucky bastard?! :)

Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: abidoful on September 23, 2010, 12:52:35 PM
Quote from: abidoful on May 24, 2010, 09:02:43 PM
I like Faure. I always thought of him as a miniaturist little bit in the way Chopin was, and so I was little surprised when I found out he did compose also operas (more than one?).
Somehow his works for solo piano have left me quite cold (perhaps not so good performances??)  but I was charmed, I remember, when I first- a long time ago- heard some of he's songs (a la fontaine, apres un reve). Such sweet music; interesting, delicious!
Then I found out that he had composed quite a few chamber works and so I listened them. Wow...! Nice pieces for violin and piano (a berceuse) and a lovely Trio.

Faure is astonishingly melodic; not just one great tune, but quite a few- songs, Trio, violin pieces... :o

Looking forward to  have a more fuller knowledge of his work- to know him also as an orchestral composer. Anyway, a fascinating musical personality, perhaps reminding little Edward Grieg-sort of lyric- but in the light of his chamber works, the description "Brahms of France" seems also justified.  He seems to have been  one of those who also continued the great tradition of Chopin in his piano Barcarolles, Nocturnes, preludes and Impromptus... ::)

That is, IMO---IMHO a nice post =)


:P :P :P :P :P :P
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Sid on September 23, 2010, 05:13:55 PM
Quote from: ukrneal on September 23, 2010, 06:50:10 AM
Oh you lucky bastard! That is my favorite requiem. I find the entire sound world will shift depending on the voices - children's choir or adult choir and the nature of some of the voices (usually the higher ones). The impact changes at least. I find that youthful voices work much better. Still, it is EXTREMELY moving in person. Did I mention you're a lucky bastard?! :)

Well yes, we are very fortunate here in Sydney to have so many good groups performing interesting music (& that's outside of the "flagship" groups like the Sydney Symphony, etc.).

I'm not sure whether the group I'll see will do the version with children's choir or just adult. It will probably be the chamber version because I have seen this group before, and they have a chamber-sized orchestra. They are called the Sydney University Musical Society (SUMS - a nice acronym!) & they perform their concerts in the Great Hall of the university, which is historic (in Sydney's terms) - an 150 year old neo-Gothic building...
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: eyeresist on April 18, 2011, 09:37:42 PM
Currently listening to Barenboim's recording of the Requiem and loving it, despite some fluttering in the left channel during the early movements. This is the 1992 release; hopefully it was cleaned up in the later issue. Incidentally, someone called "scriabinmahler" has spammed the Amason reviews, calling this performance the "worst ever". Not to my ears. This tastefully romantic interpretation fits perfectly with what else I know of Faure.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on April 18, 2011, 10:12:16 PM
Quote from: eyeresist on April 18, 2011, 09:37:42 PM
Currently listening to Barenboim's recording of the Requiem and loving it, despite some fluttering in the left channel during the early movements. This is the 1992 release; hopefully it was cleaned up in the later issue. Incidentally, someone called "scriabinmahler" has spammed the Amason reviews, calling this performance the "worst ever". Not to my ears. This tastefully romantic interpretation fits perfectly with what else I know of Faure.

You have to watch those Amazon reviewers. Sometimes I have to wonder how they even get out of bed.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on March 25, 2012, 06:35:03 PM
Oh lordy.  I know not every composer can be up on page one all the time, but... 11 months of silence?

Have I wandered into a classical music forum, only to find that it's not awash with Faure fans? *Cries*

Such a wonderful composer. I've been hooked ever since I discovered the piano works.  As well as those I have much of the chamber music, and I've got my eye on the songs recorded by Hyperion as the next purchase.  And no, I don't own a Requiem yet.

He's often listed these days as one of the major composers (for example, the Classical Archives website, or Presto Classical), but I still think more ought to be done to advance the Faure cult!  :D
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on March 26, 2012, 02:03:35 AM
(additional thought quite a few hours later)

Does anyone have any recommendations for the 1st Cello Sonata?

I have Tortelier & Heidsieck, and the first movement is astonishingly spiky on Tortelier's part. Not sure what I think of the rest either.

I've just been having a very quick sample of other recordings, and two sounded quite promising: a relatively new one on Hyperion by Gerhardt & Licad, and an EMI recording by Lodeon & Collard.  But that's only from listening to the opening of that 1st movement.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Que on March 26, 2012, 02:56:09 AM
Quote from: orfeo on March 26, 2012, 02:03:35 AM
(additional thought quite a few hours later)

Does anyone have any recommendations for the 1st Cello Sonata?

I have Tortelier & Heidsieck, and the first movement is astonishingly spiky on Tortelier's part. Not sure what I think of the rest either.

I've just been having a very quick sample of other recordings, and two sounded quite promising: a relatively new one on Hyperion by Gerhardt & Licad, and an EMI recording by Lodeon & Collard.  But that's only from listening to the opening of that 1st movement.

Haven't got it yet, but this one is on my wishlist after a favourable impression. Ophélie Gaillard is also an excellent Baroque cellist, which IMO leads to a fresh approach.

Q

[asin]B000VPNK60[/asin]
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: The new erato on March 26, 2012, 05:14:44 AM
I like this a lot:

[asin]B000Q6ZVTS[/asin]
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: SonicMan46 on March 26, 2012, 06:45:27 AM
Well, first there are plenty of Faure fans here - just that some threads seem to get lost for a while -  :-\

Second, I've had the disc below of the Cello & Piano works for years now - maybe time to add (NOT replace) a new one! :)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hKE1jxRDL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: mszczuj on March 27, 2012, 01:08:52 AM
Quote from: orfeo on March 25, 2012, 06:35:03 PM
Oh lordy.  I know not every composer can be up on page one all the time, but... 11 months of silence?

But what is the reason to talk about the pure beauty? What can you say about it? May be it is better to remain in the pious silence?
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ten thumbs on March 27, 2012, 01:29:40 PM
I am certainly a fan of Fauré. Years ago, I was accompanist for the Requiem in an amateur production, so I know it quite well. I have a volume of his piano works but it isn't complete, so adding to it is on my agenda but as they are well documented already I shan't be going into detail. In the meantime I'm concentrating on Heller, who is very much Fauré's predecessor in that field.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on March 27, 2012, 05:57:49 PM
Quote from: mszczuj on March 27, 2012, 01:08:52 AM
But what is the reason to talk about the pure beauty? What can you say about it? May be it is better to remain in the pious silence?

A clever response.

...is there scope within this message board to just post photographs of my facial expressions while I listen to my favourite Faure?  Maybe some insight will come across to the viewers!

While I'm here, I should probably apologise to Tortelier - I may have defamed an innocent cellist.  On further listening, I think my not-entirely-enthustiastic response to the 1st cello sonata performance is more likely to be Heidsieck's fault!

Thank you for the suggestions of alternatives, everyone.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Polednice on May 16, 2012, 03:06:40 PM
Someone recently recommended that I listen to Fauré, and though I would usually have not paid any notice because French music is a huge blind-spot in my listening habits, the person in question was a fellow Brahms-nut so I had no choice but to honour their request!

And I am extremely pleased that I did. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with Fauré - the music and the man. The man himself seems to have been a paragon of charm, and his forward-thinking approach to the Paris Conservatoire is to be admired (with the horrible declaration of antagonism to modernism by his successors being reprehensible). Tchaikovsky apparently considered him "adorable" and I think I'd agree.

In terms of the music, my gateway (now some of my favourites) were the Barcarolles. Through listening to these, I felt that Fauré was an interesting Chopin (not being a fan of Chopin myself!). He has a wonderful lyric intensity with delicate passage-work, but he's not so banal - instead, he has the textural and harmonic innovativeness of Brahms (I would agree with Copland's appellation, 'the Brahms of France'). His orchestral music is wonderful too, particularly the 18th century homage Masques et Bergamasques, and, naturally, the Requiem. Neville Marriner with the Academy seems to do wonders with this music, and Collard is my go-to guy for solo piano.

In a shameless plug, you can listen to snippets from these recordings on my blog (Barcarolle No. 4 (http://callumjameshackett.tumblr.com/post/23037682287/monday-music-overture-from-faures-masques-et); Overture from Masuqes (http://callumjameshackett.tumblr.com/post/22579187968/monday-music-faures-barcarolle-no-4-op-44)). ;)

(http://bigpondmusic.com/images/AlbumCoverArt/454/XXL/Faure-Oeuvres-Pour-Piano.jpg)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kvnQI2i5L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: eyeresist on May 16, 2012, 07:06:25 PM
Quote from: Polednice on May 16, 2012, 03:06:40 PMI would agree with Copland's appellation, 'the Brahms of France'

I've never heard that expression before, but it sounds apt. I have orchestral words conducted by Ansermet and Plasson. I think I prefer Ansermet, except in his recording of the Requiem, which is sadly inadequate.

If you like Faure, you should also listen to Chausson's symphony. I prefer Ansermet's performance to Munch's (haven't heard the others). I have the Australian Eloquence reissue (doesn't seem to be on Amazon) of this:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Qoa5jfxlL.jpg) (http://www.amazon.com/Ansermet-conducts-Chausson-Melisande-bergamasques/dp/B00000E4YB/ref=sr_1_30?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1337223314&sr=1-30)

Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on September 29, 2012, 07:21:45 AM
Anyone know anything about this recording?

[asin]B000005GRV[/asin]

Vaguely curious about it simply because it would plug a remaining gap in my Faure collection...

(Also, it is somewhat hilarious that I own recordings of over 80 of Faure's opuses, and still don't have a Requiem!)

The only review I've come across wasn't very positive, though.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: madaboutmahler on September 30, 2012, 12:15:06 PM
Really enjoyed listening to the Faure Requiem today, so much I could barely believe it was the first time I had listened to the whole work. (I had only known one or two of the movements before) What an incredibly beautiful, magical, divine, heavenly work. I absolutely adore it. This is the one I listened to, from my dad's collection:
[asin]B000002ZKQ[/asin]
A very beautiful performance it certainly was! I would like to collect some more recordings of the piece, so was wondering if another recording could be recommended for me? I was thinking of Dutoit's, or Herreweghe?

I do love much of Faure's music, always love it when I hear it. I am currently starting to learn some of nocturnes on the piano too, very difficult but beautiful to play! :)

:)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Rinaldo on September 30, 2012, 01:47:38 PM
Quote from: madaboutmahler on September 30, 2012, 12:15:06 PMI would like to collect some more recordings of the piece, so was wondering if another recording could be recommended for me? I was thinking of Dutoit's, or Herreweghe?

You can't do any wrong with either of those but I'd wholeheartedly recommend Gardiner, which is - to borrow you term - the most heavenly of them all. The performance is so articulate, so controlled and yet seems so efortless. Pure bliss.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: madaboutmahler on September 30, 2012, 02:15:33 PM
Quote from: Rinaldo on September 30, 2012, 01:47:38 PM
You can't do any wrong with either of those but I'd wholeheartedly recommend Gardiner, which is - to borrow you term - the most heavenly of them all. The performance is so articulate, so controlled and yet seems so efortless. Pure bliss.

Thanks for the feedback. The Gardiner certainly sounds wonderful, and I see that it is the original orchestration, which would certainly be interesting to hear. I'll probably get Dutoit and Gardiner to start with, when I can. :)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Luke on October 01, 2012, 03:15:53 AM
Quote from: Polednice on May 16, 2012, 03:06:40 PM
Someone recently recommended that I listen to Fauré, and though I would usually have not paid any notice because French music is a huge blind-spot in my listening habits

We need to have words!  >:(


Quote from: Polednice on May 16, 2012, 03:06:40 PM
I felt that Fauré was an interesting Chopin (not being a fan of Chopin myself!). He has a wonderful lyric intensity with delicate passage-work, but he's not so banal

We need to have more words!!  >:( >:(

Chopin, of course, is the very antithesis of banality, the very soul of poetry and subtlety! Qualities which, to a large degree, Faure shares, of course.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Alie on October 27, 2012, 12:01:05 PM
Gabriel Faure is one of the greatest composers as for me! His music always makes me think a lot... "Pavane" is my favorite composition, it's so tender...
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: CPK on August 06, 2013, 11:27:19 AM
This thread is looking a little dusty!

I just discovered Fauré through his song "Le Secret". Beautiful!

I can't seem to find any cycles or anything. Was this not his thing?

Could anybody recommend a disc of his? I favour song over any other form, but I'm willing to try anything else if it's acclaimed!
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: San Antone on August 06, 2013, 11:41:13 AM
Quote from: CPK on August 06, 2013, 11:27:19 AM
This thread is looking a little dusty!

I just discovered Fauré through his song "Le Secret". Beautiful!

I can't seem to find any cycles or anything. Was this not his thing?

Could anybody recommend a disc of his? I favour song over any other form, but I'm willing to try anything else if it's acclaimed!

Songs were definitely Faure's thing, but you might not find all of them unless you search for Mélodies.

[asin]B000002S30[/asin]
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: The new erato on August 06, 2013, 12:02:20 PM
Re cycles; from wikipedia: Fauré also composed a number of song cycles. Cinq mélodies "de Venise", Op. 58 (1891), was described by Fauré as a novel kind of song suite, in its use of musical themes recurring over the cycle. For the later cycle La bonne chanson, Op. 61 (1894), there were five such themes, according to Fauré.

Try his piano quartets, many wonderful recordings. The augmenteted Wanderer Trio on Harmonia Mundi eg.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: CPK on August 06, 2013, 12:49:01 PM
Aha, that disc contains both mentioned cycles, so I'll be sure to check that one out. That should keep me occupied for a while, then I'll look into the quartets a bit later.

Thanks!
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on September 08, 2013, 08:34:42 PM
Hyperion has released all the songs on 4 CDs. They keep the cycles intact, but spread other opuses across the disc - personally there are some cases where I think this isn't ideal, but I can always reintegrate thanks to the wonders of iTunes playlists.

In fact, the vast majority of the Faure I have comes from the Hyperion label, and I have a lot of Faure.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: TheGSMoeller on February 17, 2014, 06:01:43 PM
Comparing the recordings I own of my favorite movement from the Requiem, Agnus Dei. Giulini stretches this one out quite a bit, but in return offers the darkest interpretation. Not sure which way I prefer this movement, Willcocks' and Rutter's hastier touch is as equally moving, but with a more hopeful sense.

Giulini - 7:08
Herreweghe - 6:38
Short - 6:17
Dutoit - 6:05
Equilbey - 5:39
Willcocks - 5:30
Rutter - 5:21

Regarding the Pie Jesu, I find Grace Davidson (LSO/Short) to be the loveliest of this lot, such an organic and natural tone that floats above the strings.


Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on March 21, 2014, 04:28:41 PM
I'm going to have a grumble here...

I've been browsing through the ABC Classic FM 'Classic 100' lists from past years just now. And while it's obvious why Faure doesn't appear on some of the lists (wrong genre, for example), it's the list he does appear on a bit that has me peeved. In 2012 the category was French music, and this is the Faure that made the list:

3. Requiem

23. Pavane

30. Cantique de Jean Racine

46. Clair de lune

74. Sicilienne for cello and piano

96. Dolly Suite

http://www.abc.net.au/classic/classic100/french/ (http://www.abc.net.au/classic/classic100/french/)

It's true, then. The general classical music-listening public sees Faure as a generator of sweet little melodies. Forget the big chamber music or the late piano works. Let's just have some Faure on in the background with our afternoon tea. Oh, except we''ll get a little serious, because we do like that Requiem.

Sigh.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Moonfish on February 02, 2015, 11:44:38 PM
Such a quiet thread!! :(

I am considering this collection of the chamber works (below). Thoughts?

[asin] B0057JWUVG[/asin]
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qDHTzbAEL.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Jo498 on February 03, 2015, 12:31:07 AM
I have not heard this set, but it got rather mixed reviews despite the stellar cast. There were even some complaints about the sound. There are two somewhat overlapping EMI sets with recordings from the 60s-80s (incl. e.g. Ferras in the violin sonatas, IIRC) or so that are considered a good bargain, but I have not heard most of them as well.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Rinaldo on February 03, 2015, 05:03:55 AM
Quote from: Moonfish on February 02, 2015, 11:44:38 PM
Such a quiet thread!! :(

We tend to keep it down, so Fauré can be heard.

I've recently acquired this

[asin]B000Q6ZVTS[/asin]
and while it's beautifully executed, the music left me quite underwhelmed. Gorgeous package, though - recommended if you enjoy those particular pieces.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on February 03, 2015, 12:38:09 PM
That disc seems to have got underwhelming reviews. Or at least some variable ones.

For me Faure's chamber music automatically gets associated with the Hyperion label, but then for me a LOT of things are automatically associated with the Hyperion label!
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: amw on February 03, 2015, 02:27:06 PM
Quote from: orfeo on February 03, 2015, 12:38:09 PM
For me Faure's chamber music automatically gets associated with the Hyperion label, but then for me a LOT of things are automatically associated with the Hyperion label!
Seriously. I have more Hyperion than Deutsche Grammophon in my collection at this point, or any other label except Decca (which only wins out if you fold in Philips, L'Oiseau-Lyre and Argo).

I've been kind of obsessed with the Barcarolles lately. They are the amazingest. My fixation's been No. 3, I think almost entirely because of the E-flat major chord in the third bar*, but I think that is now being replaced with No. 5 and its crayzee rhythms.

* (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32084883/Screen%20Shot%202015-02-04%20at%2012.11.23%20PM.png)
I suppose it sets up the wider extended tonality of the piece & all the harmonic weirdness that is to follow, or something. But I'm not thinking that when I listen, it just sets my heart a-flutter for some reason. Particularly if the pianist plays the half-staccato RH notes with noticeable hesitancy.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on February 04, 2015, 01:14:46 AM
Quote from: amw on February 03, 2015, 02:27:06 PM
but I think that is now being replaced with No. 5 and its crayzee rhythms.


ACK! Barcarolle No.5 is... amazeballs!!

I tried to learn it. I never quite nailed it down, but could sort of work through it with enough flow to not embarrass myself. It's bizarre and yet brilliant. You've got the 'A' sections where the harmony just constantly changes, and then you've got the 'B' sections which are a little more harmonically stable but the tune changes octave constantly - and it's incredible how the ear pieces it together as a tune, even though the hands are absolutely flailing.

The coda is extraordinary, because after all the twisting and turning you have to do in the rest of the piece, the coda fits under the hands beautifully.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: TheGSMoeller on February 04, 2015, 02:02:09 AM
Quote from: Moonfish on February 02, 2015, 11:44:38 PM
Such a quiet thread!! :(

I am considering this collection of the chamber works (below). Thoughts?

[asin] B0057JWUVG[/asin]
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qDHTzbAEL.jpg)

Performances are great, but the sound is an issue as mentioned above. However, get past that issue and you have an incredibly priced box set. Along with the Virgin set I also have this one from Brilliant which is a little more expensive, but I spin both sets about the same. And I might add these contain some of the most beautiful chamber music from that century. Get'em both!  ;D

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/619K5P5HYYL.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: EigenUser on February 04, 2015, 03:46:13 AM
Quote from: amw on February 03, 2015, 02:27:06 PM
Seriously. I have more Hyperion than Deutsche Grammophon in my collection at this point, or any other label except Decca (which only wins out if you fold in Philips, L'Oiseau-Lyre and Argo).

I've been kind of obsessed with the Barcarolles lately. They are the amazingest. My fixation's been No. 3, I think almost entirely because of the E-flat major chord in the third bar*, but I think that is now being replaced with No. 5 and its crayzee rhythms.

* (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32084883/Screen%20Shot%202015-02-04%20at%2012.11.23%20PM.png)
I suppose it sets up the wider extended tonality of the piece & all the harmonic weirdness that is to follow, or something. But I'm not thinking that when I listen, it just sets my heart a-flutter for some reason. Particularly if the pianist plays the half-staccato RH notes with noticeable hesitancy.

Quote from: orfeo on February 04, 2015, 01:14:46 AM
ACK! Barcarolle No.5 is... amazeballs!!

I tried to learn it. I never quite nailed it down, but could sort of work through it with enough flow to not embarrass myself. It's bizarre and yet brilliant. You've got the 'A' sections where the harmony just constantly changes, and then you've got the 'B' sections which are a little more harmonically stable but the tune changes octave constantly - and it's incredible how the ear pieces it together as a tune, even though the hands are absolutely flailing.

The coda is extraordinary, because after all the twisting and turning you have to do in the rest of the piece, the coda fits under the hands beautifully.

Oh my god :o : in-depth and specific discussion of actual pieces instead of performances!

Why, oh why, can't this happen more often on GMG? Whenever it does, I seem to always learn something new. Thanks to this I just discovered the 3rd Barcarolle (only heard part of it last night because I was too tired) and I loved it. I think I'll give them a listen later today.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on February 04, 2015, 04:02:55 AM
Ha. Give me the right composer and I'll chew your ear off. Faure. Holmboe - I've picked apart all the string quartets AND all the symphonic works on his thread. And hey, I'm stumbling through the Brahms chamber music on the Brahms thread.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: amw on February 04, 2015, 04:43:00 AM
Quote from: orfeo on February 04, 2015, 01:14:46 AM
ACK! Barcarolle No.5 is... amazeballs!!

I tried to learn it. I never quite nailed it down, but could sort of work through it with enough flow to not embarrass myself. It's bizarre and yet brilliant. You've got the 'A' sections where the harmony just constantly changes, and then you've got the 'B' sections which are a little more harmonically stable but the tune changes octave constantly - and it's incredible how the ear pieces it together as a tune, even though the hands are absolutely flailing.

The coda is extraordinary, because after all the twisting and turning you have to do in the rest of the piece, the coda fits under the hands beautifully.
I've sight-read it once. Slowly. When I go back to normal levels of busyness instead of insane ones it's a piece I'd really like to sit down with for a few hours. Fauré's harmony is really the best thing in the history of things, but also no other composer uses meter so subtly since, like, Monteverdi or something. That delicate balance of 2+2+2+3 vs. 3+3+3 couldn't exist outside late romanticism (pretty much incompatible with the 18th and 20th century's notions of a strongly articulated subtactile pulse, such as Haydn & Bartók—the balance depends on a tactus [sub-bar beat unit] that's blurred almost to the point of unrecogniseability but not quite) but all the other late romantics just keep putting everything in 4/4 and leaving it there. Except Medtner I guess. You have to have enough flow to make the shifts seem part of an unbroken continuity, but you also have to mark the beats just enough that we can still remember we're on a gondola. This makes phrasing the Barcarolle, to use the technical piano industry term, "a total bitch".
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: ZauberdrachenNr.7 on April 17, 2015, 06:14:19 AM
A coupla years ago, CPK pointed out how wonderful Fauré's mélodie Le Secret is.  I want to do the same with another of his, Reflets dans l'eau one of four in the appropriately titled Mirages series - and (confessedly) proselytize the heck outta it.  I don't often hear of Mirages. I was reminded of this particular song yesterday when, working in the garden, I noticed a puddle formed by a momentarily neglected hose (nope, don't live in California).  Not only is this song extraordinary in its subtle descriptive, contemplative deftness, it's proof - not that any is needed - of the composer's consummate skill at merging text and music.  Art Song, indeed.  The poem on which it's based, by Baronne de Brimont, is extraordinary in and of itself.  Like 'concrete poetry', yet without going to those 'extremes', its structure resembles something of concentric circles formed by that of a dropped pebble in water or a simple touch, the phenomenological basis of the poem, giving rise to what one sees - or thinks one sees on the surface of the water...or is it the soul's reflection? Ô cher Passé mystérieux :  Memory, desire, sensual delight.  Check out Fauré's clever use of triplet eighth-note chords - deftly dissolving into regular eighth notes to suggest ripples in water, circles ever-widening, before once again finding peace in motionlessness:  Et puis le miroir enchanté reprendra sa limpidité froide et sereine (And then the enchanted mirror will again assume its clarity, cold and serene).

Here's Gérard Souzay on Youtube :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUSJKcM4N6Y
French text here :  http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=3160
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on April 17, 2015, 08:42:35 AM
I'm away from home and can't access my collection, but if that's the song I think it is, the musical painting of the water rippling is one of the most superb things ever.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: ZauberdrachenNr.7 on August 11, 2015, 05:17:38 AM
Fans of Fauré mélodies owe it to themselves to seek out Yves Montand's performance of Les Berceaux - some liberties are taken, of course, but I think it's irresistible.  Hope you might, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRqF0b56G2k

Montand recorded it several times; I actually prefer the version on his album: La Bicyclette
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: James The 1st on August 13, 2015, 09:20:34 PM
Faure is awesome. Pretty much all his chamber works, the piano works and of course the Requiem are fantastic.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on February 12, 2016, 03:57:26 PM
I've bought a good bit of Faure lately.

Cross-posted from the 'Purchases' thread:

Quote from: Mirror Image on February 12, 2016, 03:20:48 PM
Just bought:

(http://www.harmoniamundi.com/__media/document/5518/5518.jpg) (http://www.harmoniamundi.com/__media/document/3319/902032_G.jpg)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61c2jZv%2BzvL._SL1237_.jpg) (http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/058/MI0001058292.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)

Quote from: Mirror Image on February 11, 2016, 10:23:03 AM

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81fIAUJnmML._SL1400_.jpg) (http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571300085.png)

Does anyone have any comments on these purchases? Do any of you own them? The Le Sage chamber set came out not too long ago. The Trio Wanderer recordings on Harmonia Mundi should be excellent.


Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: 71 dB on February 13, 2016, 12:35:39 AM
Quote from: Mirror Image on February 12, 2016, 03:57:26 PM
Does anyone have any comments on these purchases? Do any of you own them? The Le Sage chamber set came out not too long ago. The Trio Wanderer recordings on Harmonia Mundi should be excellent.

I have the Piano Quartets/Trio Wanderer/Antoine Tamestit and Requiem/Herreweghe discs. The former is excellent and the latter was disappointing (strange) imo.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Jo498 on February 13, 2016, 12:47:58 AM
I also like the Wanderer/Tamestit but although I have several other recordings I have never done close comparison. All discs have been reviewed positively, I think, but I have not heard any of them. I can hardly imagine a really bad recording by Isabelle Faust (maybe too "cool" at worst)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on February 13, 2016, 06:34:08 AM
Quote from: 71 dB on February 13, 2016, 12:35:39 AM
I have the Piano Quartets/Trio Wanderer/Antoine Tamestit and Requiem/Herreweghe discs. The former is excellent and the latter was disappointing (strange) imo.

Coincidently, I listened to some of Herregweghe's recording of the his Rquiem before I bought it and found nothing strange about it. If anything, it was just flat-out lyrical and extremely beautiful.

Quote from: Jo498 on February 13, 2016, 12:47:58 AM
I also like the Wanderer/Tamestit but although I have several other recordings I have never done close comparison. All discs have been reviewed positively, I think, but I have not heard any of them. I can hardly imagine a really bad recording by Isabelle Faust (maybe too "cool" at worst)

Yeah, Faust is an excellent musician. I've never heard anything 'bad' from her either.

Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: amw on February 14, 2016, 12:55:28 AM
Quote from: Jo498 on February 13, 2016, 12:47:58 AM
I also like the Wanderer/Tamestit but although I have several other recordings I have never done close comparison. All discs have been reviewed positively, I think, but I have not heard any of them. I can hardly imagine a really bad recording by Isabelle Faust (maybe too "cool" at worst)
I do not like Wanderer much—Harmonia Mundi Syndrome (excellent playing but boring interpretation). I have some problems with the Le Sage chamber music set mostly in the quartets and quintets, which sounded a bit scrappy somehow? Not sure how to describe it, I can re-listen. I mean the playing, not the sound quality; like they're struggling with the material perhaps. My choice for the 4tets & 5tets is, obviously, Domus, but there's also a set with Collard doing piano that was good.

There's no such thing as a bad Izzy recording and she's an excellent Fauréist, though I have to say my favourite violin sonatas will always* be those by Pierre Amoyal & Pascal Rogé.

* maybe
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Jo498 on February 14, 2016, 01:18:16 AM
The Brilliant set has Domus' Susan Tomes with Krysia Osostowicz in the violin sonatas. There are also recordings by Grumiaux, Ferras... the violin sonatas might be the best served part of Fauré's chamber output. The Brilliant set seems overall pretty good to me although there are probably better recordings for most pieces to be found.

There were several overlapping EMI (France) sets with all major works, with JP Collard participating in most works.

[asin]B000002S0A[/asin]
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Que on February 14, 2016, 01:54:01 AM
Quote from: Jo498 on February 14, 2016, 01:18:16 AM

There were several overlapping EMI (France) sets with all major works, with JP Collard participating in most works.

Here is the last reissue:  :)

[asin]B0040UEIA4[/asin]

If you don't mind '70s recording quality, this is an excellent set with many nice and idiomatic performances throughout. Recommended.
I do like the Trio Wanderer and prefer them to Domus BTW

Q
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Jo498 on February 14, 2016, 02:05:55 AM
Interesting. This last incarnation seems to use the older recordings. Of the twofers there were some that had the violin sonatas with Dumay/Collard, not Ferras/Barbizet and also differed in some other recordings.

I have an older recording of the cello sonatas with Totelier/Hubeau. So the French musicians can't really be blamed for not recording lots of Fauré... ;)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Scion7 on July 14, 2016, 06:10:29 PM
(https://img.discogs.com/t2f1HFIBGzIaDpq4Vq_2rArBUHg=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-8208698-1457184945-9936.jpeg.jpg)

vinyl days ...
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Scion7 on July 14, 2016, 06:14:13 PM
(https://img.discogs.com/ZqL5eh9V_Q0vv3rKpeQbfC-L7ao=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-5293320-1389801684-1116.jpeg.jpg)

(https://img.discogs.com/sojldNPNUCK2b7eOFu5bRYUTVHU=/fit-in/599x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-5631144-1398505072-7142.jpeg.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on October 09, 2016, 05:01:23 AM
Right folks, I really really do need to find myself a Requiem. It's crazy that I haven't got a recording yet.

I'm inclined to prefer the 1893, more chamber-like version. Names I've heard mentioned include Rutter, Gardiner, Herreweghe (he's apparently done one this and one of the full orchestral version) and Summerly on Naxos.

The Gardiner looks appealing, partly because of some interesting couplings. Anybody know it?
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: North Star on October 09, 2016, 05:11:14 AM
Quote from: ørfeo on October 09, 2016, 05:01:23 AM
Right folks, I really really do need to find myself a Requiem. It's crazy that I haven't got a recording yet.

I'm inclined to prefer the 1893, more chamber-like version. Names I've heard mentioned include Rutter, Gardiner, Herreweghe (he's apparently done one this and one of the full orchestral version) and Summerly on Naxos.

The Gardiner looks appealing, partly because of some interesting couplings. Anybody know it?
Best & Corydon's recording of the 1893 ought to be good, too, I suppose.

(http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/034571300085.png) (http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA30008)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: knight66 on October 13, 2016, 03:56:12 AM
Re your request for a suggestion on the Faure Requiem Orfeo,

I cannot over enthuse about the Tenebre recording on the LSO Live label. It has a unique pairing. The disc opens with Bach's D Minor solo violin sonata and segues magically into the Faure. The disc contains the version that you want and I don't think you will be disappointed by it.
For decades I stuck with Willcocks and Kings, looked occasionally for an alternative and never found one that I thought replicated the delicacy and consoling aspects, yet took account of the work's occasional dramatic passages. However the new one really sinks you into the cool beauty of the piece. Tenebre is an exceptional choir, the soloists are not famous stars, but they are totally satisfying.

Mike
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: San Antone on October 13, 2016, 04:16:36 AM
Quote from: ørfeo on October 09, 2016, 05:01:23 AM
Right folks, I really really do need to find myself a Requiem. It's crazy that I haven't got a recording yet.

I'm inclined to prefer the 1893, more chamber-like version. Names I've heard mentioned include Rutter, Gardiner, Herreweghe (he's apparently done one this and one of the full orchestral version) and Summerly on Naxos.

The Gardiner looks appealing, partly because of some interesting couplings. Anybody know it?

I love the Gardiner and was going to recommend it when I first saw your post.  ;)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on October 13, 2016, 05:00:59 AM
Quote from: knight66 on October 13, 2016, 03:56:12 AM
Re your request for a suggestion on the Faure Requiem Orfeo,

I cannot over enthuse about the Tenebre recording on the LSO Live label. It has a unique pairing. The disc opens with Bach's D Minor solo violin sonata and segues magically into the Faure. The disc contains the version that you want and I don't think you will be disappointed by it.
For decades I stuck with Willcocks and Kings, looked occasionally for an alternative and never found one that I thought replicated the delicacy and consoling aspects, yet took account of the work's occasional dramatic passages. However the new one really sinks you into the cool beauty of the piece. Tenebre is an exceptional choir, the soloists are not famous stars, but they are totally satisfying.

Mike

I did see an extremely positive review of that one. I have to confess, the whole idea of a "segue" from one composer to another struck me as, well... just slightly odd. It's something I can imagine in a concert setting, I'm less sure how I feel about it in a recording.

But I shall have to add it to the list of versions to check out, given the degree of enthusiasm it is generating.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: knight66 on October 13, 2016, 05:31:33 AM
I agree, it sounds like a gimmick and an insult to both composers. But it worked for me. Also there is the option of ignoring the Bach and going straight for the Faure. I am now at home and will put the disc on and see if it still sounds as good to me.

Mike

PS The disc lasts 68 minutes and the movements of the Partita are themselves interleaved with sung chorales. Althoughan LSO disc, this was not recorded in their usual venue which has a dry acoustic. It was recorded at St Giles Cripplegate, London. The sound has an appropriate bloom to it.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Kaiser on June 21, 2017, 07:13:46 PM
Been a long time since I've posted on this forum, but I wanted to pass along a discovery I made recently. I picked up two albums of Faure's piano music performed by Albert Ferber issued in the UK on a label called Saga Records. These were issued in the mid-to-late 1970s - I have no idea if they ever made it to CD. Although I am far from an expert in Faure and/or classical music in general I really loved these performances. Certainly worth the $1 I paid for each one - and worth investigating for the Faure fan! Anyone else know of these releases?
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-03eeQ_S9SY4/V57OzO22IJI/AAAAAAAACIk/Hng3iLlWQycm-ul0n_DdEgKOlwUYPNa3gCLcB/s1600/IMG_5307.JPG)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: San Antone on October 27, 2017, 02:14:49 AM
Listening to a new recording of the Requiem -

(https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/034571282091.png)

Yale Schola Cantorum, David Hill (conductor), Robert Bennesh (organ)  [harp, violin and cello]
Recording details: February 2015
Christ Church, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Produced by Malcolm Bruno
Engineered by Mateusz Zechowski
Release date: 27 October 2017




I enjoy the spare instrumentation and the choir sings in a devout, understated, manner which allows the music to breathe and come alive in a way that is overshot with the conventional versions.  So far, I like this a lot, but it is early days, yet.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: mjwal on October 28, 2017, 07:57:02 AM
Quote from: Kaiser on June 21, 2017, 07:13:46 PM
Been a long time since I've posted on this forum, but I wanted to pass along a discovery I made recently. I picked up two albums of Faure's piano music performed by Albert Ferber issued in the UK on a label called Saga Records. These were issued in the mid-to-late 1970s - I have no idea if they ever made it to CD. Although I am far from an expert in Faure and/or classical music in general I really loved these performances. Certainly worth the $1 I paid for each one - and worth investigating for the Faure fan! Anyone else know of these releases?
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-03eeQ_S9SY4/V57OzO22IJI/AAAAAAAACIk/Hng3iLlWQycm-ul0n_DdEgKOlwUYPNa3gCLcB/s1600/IMG_5307.JPG)
Ditto (long time) - yes, I have one of the original LPs (in The Other Place), they were my very satisfying introduction to Fauré's piano music, in particular the Nocturnes, which I love; nowadays I will probably put on Yvonne Lefébure playing Nos.6 or 13, my favourites. The string quintets and cello works are also marvellous. And of course I can never forget Danco and Souzay in the Requiem.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on December 12, 2017, 04:51:30 AM
Any recommendations for La Chanson d'Eve?

I'm frustrated by the performance I have (Jennifer Smith on Hyperion) because the vocal tone is just not attractive.

However, sampling on iTunes is revealing a fair few other singers who, while better, still don't seem to have what I envisage as an appropriate sound for portraying Eve.

Ones so far that sound like they have potential:

Dawn Upshaw
Veronique Dietschy
Possibly Elly Ameling, though the recording is a bit older and I'm not sure what formats it's still available in.
Possibly Sarah Connolly
Sayaka Takahashi
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: amw on December 12, 2017, 05:36:30 AM
I have the Ameling integral (on Brilliant Classics) because I generally like her voice. There's also a dude singing on that set who I think is Gérard Souzay.

It looks like all of La Chanson is up on youtube if you can access it in your country: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYteuGxbh08 (my personal opinion is that she mostly does a good job but seems to get a little breathless in the faster songs, but maybe that's just par for the course, and also I don't know the piece well)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on December 12, 2017, 05:40:38 AM
Quote from: amw on December 12, 2017, 05:36:30 AM
I have the Ameling integral (on Brilliant Classics) because I generally like her voice. There's also a dude singing on that set who I think is Gérard Souzay.

Okay, they did an EMI set together. So it's interesting to know that Brilliant has reissued that one.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: amw on December 12, 2017, 05:45:01 AM
The Brilliant edition was cheaper, and had nice impressionist paintings on the CD covers, when I got it. Not sure what the situation is currently.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Josquin13 on December 12, 2017, 01:40:08 PM
Another pianist that is worth hearing in Faure's piano music is Magda Tagliaferro, who played the Dolly Suite in concert with Faure (on tour).  There's a wonderful 1981 CBS (digital) recording of the suite that Tagliaferro made late in her life with one of her former students, Daniel Varsano that is worth searching out.  Unfortunately, I don't think it has ever been released on CD (I have it on LP).

[asin] B00FP9GVOA[/asin]

I've also enjoyed the older Faure piano recordings of Vlado Perlemuter, Germaine Thyssens-Valentin, Eric Heidsieck, Marguerite Long (on Biddulph), and the Nocturne No. 4 played by Madeleine de Valmaléte (on a CD that includes the finest performance of Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin I've ever heard).  More recently, I've liked the 'complete' Faure series from pianist Jean-Claude Pennetier on Mirare (which stands out among digital era recordings I've heard):

[asin]B001EVPBYO[/asin]
[asin]B005IQXULW[/asin]
[asin]B00VVOR9KS[/asin]

Otherwise, like others, I most enjoy Faure's Requiem (in all its different versions & subsequent editions--by leading Faure scholar Jean Nectoux, and Faure's students Roger Ducasse & Nadia Boulanger, etc.), especially the Pie Jesu & In Paradisum movements, along with his wonderful chamber music (especially the 2 Piano Quartets & Quintets), and Melodies.

A favorite Faure work of mine is the chamber version of his song cycle, "La Bonne Chanson".  For me, that is quintessential Faure.  The two best recordings I've heard to date have come from the Nash Ensemble, with mezzo-soprano Sarah Walker, on CRD, and soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, on DG; though as good as they are, I'd like to find a recording by a comparable French soprano one day (maybe Sandrine Piau?).  I do have a French soprano that I like very much in the version for voice & piano--Veronique Dietschy (with pianist Philippe Cassard on the Ades label), but that recording is hard to find now (except as a download).  I also enjoy the Dutch soprano, Elly Ameling's recording of La Bonne Chanson with pianist Dalton Baldwin (originally on CBS), but to my knowledge it has never been released on CD:

[asin]B000001GRC[/asin]
This is pricey at the moment on Amazon, but I would imagine it can be found at a reasonable cost elsewhere:
[asin]B00PO5DA7G[/asin]

https://www.amazon.fr/Melodies-Veronique-Dietschy-Ph%60Ilippe-Cassard/dp/B000024SMM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1513119060&sr=8-2&keywords=veronique+dietschy+faure

Unfortunately, I can only find Ameling's recording on vinyl:
[asin]B00B04P84I[/asin]

I can provide folks with a detailed history of the various chamber & orchestral editions of the Requiem in relation to its recorded history, if anyone's interested?  (It's helpful to know if you're trying to decide between which recording to buy.)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Que on December 12, 2017, 02:01:57 PM
Quote from: Josquin13 on December 12, 2017, 01:40:08 PM
A favorite Faure work of mine is the chamber version of his song cycle, "La Bonne Chanson".  For me, that is quintessential Faure. [....]  I also enjoy the Dutch soprano, Elly Ameling's recording of La Bonne Chanson with pianist Dalton Baldwin (originally on CBS), but to my knowledge it has never been released on CD:

[...]

Unfortunately, I can only find Ameling's recording on vinyl:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51zJCH3fVvL._SX430_QL70_FMwebp_.jpg)


Issued on CD by EMI, reissued by Brilliant  Classics:  :)

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51iGy-nXWwL._SX400_QL70_FMwebp_.jpg)

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81iMEeIndPL._SL400_.jpg)

Q
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: San Antone on December 12, 2017, 02:47:48 PM
Quote from: Que on December 12, 2017, 02:01:57 PM
Issued on CD by EMI, reissued by Brilliant  Classics:  :)

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51iGy-nXWwL._SX400_QL70_FMwebp_.jpg)



That's the one I have; excellent collection.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Josquin13 on December 12, 2017, 03:32:02 PM
Quote from: Que on December 12, 2017, 02:01:57 PM
Issued on CD by EMI, reissued by Brilliant  Classics:  :)

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51iGy-nXWwL._SX400_QL70_FMwebp_.jpg)

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81iMEeIndPL._SL400_.jpg)

Q

I'm afraid the Brilliant set is a reissue of Ameling's EMI survey shared with tenor Gerard Souzay.  This one:

[asin]B000002S30[/asin]

And, La Bonne Chanson is sung by Souzay on that set, not Ameling.  Her one recording of the song cycle came later in her career for CBS, with pianist Dalton Baldwin on piano, and to my knowledge, the CBS recording has never been issued on CD.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Que on December 12, 2017, 10:02:19 PM
Quote from: Josquin13 on December 12, 2017, 03:32:02 PM
I'm afraid the Brilliant set is a reissue of Ameling's EMI survey shared with tenor Gerard Souzay.

And, La Bonne Chanson is sung by Souzay on that set, not Ameling.  Her one recording of the song cycle came later in her career for CBS, with pianist Dalton Baldwin on piano, and to my knowledge, the CBS recording has never been issued on CD.

I should have checked!   :)

Q
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on December 13, 2017, 01:37:03 AM
Interesting reading on the string version of La bonne chanson. Faure apparently later said he didn't like it much.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Jo498 on December 13, 2017, 01:54:22 AM
The Walker/Nash CRD recording of La bonne chanson is included in the Brilliant Classics Fauré chamber music box which is overall very good and probably easier to get than the original CRD issue.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Baron Scarpia on June 04, 2018, 01:41:40 PM
Starting to listen to Faure Piano Quartets and Quintets. I started at the beginning, with the Piano Quartet No 1 (the earliest work). The recording is by Domus, on Hyperion

[asin]B000002ZI8[/asin]

This early work of Faure strikes me as not exhibiting the composer's fully formed style. The overall impression I get is a respect for Brahms, infused with French elegance. In the later works for piano and strings the piano part often consists of flowing arpeggios and figuration that implies rather than states a harmonic foundation for the music. In this work the piano part has a forthright style that reminds me of Brahms. Beginning in the first movement, there is a lot of imitative counterpoint in the string parts and a fairly clear sonata-allegro form, with a typical motif-based first theme and lyrical second theme. The Scherzo, highlighting pizzicato strings, is centered on a wonderfully playful piano theme. The slow movement is expressive without becoming maudlin, and there is a appropriately vigorous finale. It is a very satisfying work, even if it is not the epitome of Faure's style.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: San Antone on June 04, 2018, 04:22:48 PM
Quote from: Baron Scarpia on June 04, 2018, 01:41:40 PM
Starting to listen to Faure Piano Quartets and Quintets. I started at the beginning, with the Piano Quartet No 1 (the earliest work). The recording is by Domus, on Hyperion

[asin]B000002ZI8[/asin]

This early work of Faure strikes me as not exhibiting the composer's fully formed style. The overall impression I get is a respect for Brahms, infused with French elegance. In the later works for piano and strings the piano part often consists of flowing arpeggios and figuration that implies rather than states a harmonic foundation for the music. In this work the piano part has a forthright style that reminds me of Brahms. Beginning in the first movement, there is a lot of imitative counterpoint in the string parts and a fairly clear sonata-allegro form, with a typical motif-based first theme and lyrical second theme. The Scherzo, highlighting pizzicato strings, is centered on a wonderfully playful piano theme. The slow movement is expressive without becoming maudlin, and there is a appropriately vigorous finale. It is a very satisfying work, even if it is not the epitome of Faure's style.

That CD was one of my earliest classical purchases.  I always enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: kyjo on June 04, 2018, 05:33:28 PM
The two piano quartets are two of my favorite Fauré works. Though they may not be as individual as his late chamber works, they're filled with passion and melodic appeal that's not as present in his later works (that's not a criticism). The slow movements of both quartets, in particular, are so deeply felt.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Baron Scarpia on June 04, 2018, 10:42:55 PM
Quote from: kyjo on June 04, 2018, 05:33:28 PM
The two piano quartets are two of my favorite Fauré works. Though they may not be as individual as his late chamber works, they're filled with passion and melodic appeal that's not as present in his later works (that's not a criticism). The slow movements of both quartets, in particular, are so deeply felt.

After listening again, I agree that the slow movement of the first piano quartet is a true gem. But I think if I had heard this piece on the radio, I think I might mistake it for some Brahms I didn't recognize, or possible Mendelssohn. It seems to emulate German models. Perhaps the exception is the finale, where I find myself in the weeds, not really grasping what Faure is doing.

On to the second quartet. (To confess, I've listened to all of the piano quartets and quintets for an initial run-through, and the second quintet shapes up to be my most favorite among these works. But I will not comment until I have come to terms with each in a second listen.) I think when I've gone through the Domus set I will listen to the other set of recordings I have, Pascal Roge and the Quatour Ysaye.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Que on June 05, 2018, 08:49:10 AM
My recommendation for an alternative recording:

[asin]B002SR3Y56[/asin]
Q
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Baron Scarpia on June 05, 2018, 08:58:15 AM
That does look attractive, but currently I'm observing CD buying austerity. So I'm afraid I'm limited to recordings on hand (Domus, Ysaye/Roge, Quatuor Parrenin/Collard, Quatuor Via Nova/Hubeau). Tragic, I know. :)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Draško on June 05, 2018, 09:30:10 AM
Quote from: Baron Scarpia on June 05, 2018, 08:58:15 AM
That does look attractive, but currently I'm observing CD buying austerity. So I'm afraid I'm limited to recordings on hand (Domus, Ysaye/Roge, Quatuor Parrenin/Collard, Quatuor Via Nova/Hubeau). Tragic, I know. :)

Francois/Quatour Bernede No.1 in Francois box?
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: kyjo on June 05, 2018, 09:31:10 AM
Quote from: Baron Scarpia on June 04, 2018, 10:42:55 PM
After listening again, I agree that the slow movement of the first piano quartet is a true gem. But I think if I had heard this piece on the radio, I think I might mistake it for some Brahms I didn't recognize, or possible Mendelssohn. It seems to emulate German models. Perhaps the exception is the finale, where I find myself in the weeds, not really grasping what Faure is doing.

Personally, I could never mistake the first piano quartet for Brahms or Mendelssohn. Right off the bat, the first theme of the first movement has a modal, unmistakably Gallic flavor, as does the scherzo in its rhythmic quirkiness and lightness of touch. Throughout the work, Fauré's sense of harmony, though certainly more conventional and less elusive than in his later works, already has an unpredictability and uniqueness to it, at least to my ears.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Baron Scarpia on June 05, 2018, 09:43:46 AM
Quote from: Draško on June 05, 2018, 09:30:10 AM
Francois/Quatour Bernede No.1 in Francois box?

I had no idea it was in there! Who knows how many other recordings I have of the work.  :-[
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on June 06, 2018, 02:48:56 AM
Quote from: kyjo on June 05, 2018, 09:31:10 AM
Personally, I could never mistake the first piano quartet for Brahms or Mendelssohn. Right off the bat, the first theme of the first movement has a modal, unmistakably Gallic flavor, as does the scherzo in its rhythmic quirkiness and lightness of touch. Throughout the work, Fauré's sense of harmony, though certainly more conventional and less elusive than in his later works, already has an unpredictability and uniqueness to it, at least to my ears.

Same.  While I do understand why Faure is sometimes called "the French Brahms" the similarities are not strong and I think it's largely just a result of trying to find a touchstone for a composer who very much has his own voice.

And is not nearly as well known as he should be. Mostly, I think, because his music is simultaneously very hard to perform and doesn't sound hard.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: snyprrr on June 06, 2018, 07:38:16 AM
Quote from: Baron Scarpia on June 05, 2018, 09:43:46 AM
I had no idea it was in there! Who knows how many other recordings I have of the work.  :-[

byproduct of CDCDCD
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Baron Scarpia on June 06, 2018, 09:12:52 AM
Quote from: Madiel on June 06, 2018, 02:48:56 AM
Same.  While I do understand why Faure is sometimes called "the French Brahms" the similarities are not strong and I think it's largely just a result of trying to find a touchstone for a composer who very much has his own voice.

I don't recall Faure being described as the French Brahms, nor would it occur to me to make such a comparison. But the use of piano in the first movement in particular of the Piano Quartet No 1 struck me as not exhibiting Faure's unique style of writing for piano and reminded me German models.

I've made my way through the first two movements of the second Piano Quartet and, even though it is also an early work, the impression I get is that it is exhibiting what I think of a Faure's own style to a much greater degree.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Baron Scarpia on June 07, 2018, 08:06:39 AM
Completed my careful listening to the second Piano Quartet

[asin]B000002ZI8[/asin]

I don't find this work quite as engaging as the first piano quartet. The outer movements are more clamorous than their counterparts in the first piano quartet (more 'romantic' less classical') and I don't find the slow movement to be as captivating. Still a worthy work.

Now, on to the Piano Quintets, which seem to be far less popular (based on the number of recordings available) although I generally prefer them to the Piano Quartets.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on June 07, 2018, 03:03:15 PM
Quote from: Baron Scarpia on June 04, 2018, 10:42:55 PM
I think I might mistake it for some Brahms I didn't recognize, or possible Mendelssohn.

Quote from: Baron Scarpia on June 06, 2018, 09:12:52 AM
I don't recall Faure being described as the French Brahms, nor would it occur to me to make such a comparison.

::)

Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Baron Scarpia on June 07, 2018, 03:26:59 PM
Quote from: Baron Scarpia on June 04, 2018, 01:41:40 PMThis early work of Faure strikes me as not exhibiting the composer's fully formed style. The overall impression I get is a respect for Brahms, infused with French elegance.

Quote from: Baron Scarpia on June 04, 2018, 10:42:55 PM
After listening again, I agree that the slow movement of the first piano quartet is a true gem. But I think if I had heard this piece on the radio, I think I might mistake it for some Brahms I didn't recognize, or possible Mendelssohn. It seems to emulate German models. Perhaps the exception is the finale, where I find myself in the weeds, not really grasping what Faure is doing.

Quote from: Baron Scarpia on June 06, 2018, 09:12:52 AM
I don't recall Faure being described as the French Brahms, nor would it occur to me to make such a comparison. But the use of piano in the first movement in particular of the Piano Quartet No 1 struck me as not exhibiting Faure's unique style of writing for piano and reminded me German models.

Quote from: Madiel on June 07, 2018, 03:03:15 PM
::)

I should clarify. My impression as I have expressed it above is that the first Piano Quartet specifically is an early work written before Faure had formed his mature style, and which struck me as influenced by German models such as Brahms or Mendelssohn. This does not imply that Faure is "the French Brahms" or that his mature style is derived from Brahms.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on June 07, 2018, 03:46:01 PM
Oh look, whatever you need to do in order to disagree with me, knock yourself out.

He reminded you of Brahms but it would never occur to you to compare him to Brahms. Got it.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Baron Scarpia on June 07, 2018, 03:48:28 PM
Quote from: Madiel on June 07, 2018, 03:46:01 PM
Oh look, whatever you need to do in order to disagree with me, knock yourself out.

I am not aware of having disagreed with you, only with those unnamed people who call Faure "the French Brahms."
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Baron Scarpia on June 07, 2018, 04:01:56 PM
Quote from: Madiel on June 07, 2018, 03:46:01 PMHe reminded you of Brahms but it would never occur to you to compare him to Brahms. Got it.

I thought an early work reminded me of Brahms, his mature style does not strike me as derived from or heavily influenced by Brahms. Is this something you really want to bicker over?
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on June 07, 2018, 04:42:42 PM
Your opinion of Brahms or of Faure is not the issue. Your emphatic declaration that a comparison between the two would never occur to you is the issue.

Why exactly do you think I ever mentioned Brahms in the first place? You acted as if I conjured the idea out of thin air.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Baron Scarpia on June 08, 2018, 06:16:43 AM
Now moving on to the Piano Quintets.

[asin]B000002ZVF[/asin]

There is a clear change in style here, these are both relatively late works, in contrast to both of the Piano Quartets. The string ensemble here is a string quartet, rather than a string trio, and there Faure uses it as more self-sufficient sub-ensemble. If a string quartet is the Chamber music equivalent of a symphony, normally a Piano Quartet or Quintet seems to be the chamber music equivalent of a piano concerto, with back-and-forth interplay between the piano and string sections, each section having passages where they dominate while their counterpart is silent or accompanies. In this piece the strings are almost always to the fore, with the piano playing a burbling accompaniment, perhaps offering a subtle counter-melody. I hardly can recall a passage where the piano boldly comes forward to state or develop a theme. This is a contrast to the Piano Quartets, which strike me as following the conventional style of a Piano Quartet.

In this work Faure works in a more unique personal style, and I am looking forward to listening to the second Piano Quintet, which is really my favorite of the group.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: San Antone on June 08, 2018, 07:55:28 AM
Quote from: Baron Scarpia on June 08, 2018, 06:16:43 AM
Now moving on to the Piano Quintets.

[asin]B000002ZVF[/asin]

There is a clear change in style here, these are both relatively late works, in contrast to both of the Piano Quartets. The string ensemble here is a string quartet, rather than a string trio, and there Faure uses it as more self-sufficient sub-ensemble. If a string quartet is the Chamber music equivalent of a symphony, normally a Piano Quartet or Quintet seems to be the chamber music equivalent of a piano concerto, with back-and-forth interplay between the piano and string sections, each section having passages where they dominate while their counterpart is silent or accompanies. In this piece the strings are almost always to the fore, with the piano playing a burbling accompaniment, perhaps offering a subtle counter-melody. I hardly can recall a passage where the piano boldly comes forward to state or develop a theme. This is a contrast to the Piano Quartets, which strike me as following the conventional style of a Piano Quartet.

In this work Faure works in a more unique personal style, and I am looking forward to listening to the second Piano Quintet, which is really my favorite of the group.

These works, the quartets and quintets, are wonderful, imo.  And I have enjoyed reading your posts about them.  Carry on!   :)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Baron Scarpia on June 08, 2018, 08:31:28 AM
Quote from: San Antone on June 08, 2018, 07:55:28 AM
These works, the quartets and quintets, are wonderful, imo.  And I have enjoyed reading your posts about them.  Carry on!   :)

Glad to hear you find my comment interesting. I'll probably spend another day with this piece before moving on to the final Piano Quintet. Then there is the Piano Trio.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: kyjo on June 10, 2018, 09:25:03 AM
The Piano Trio is gorgeous. I think I prefer it to the two piano quintets, great as they are.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: 71 dB on June 10, 2018, 10:13:29 AM
Quote from: Que on June 05, 2018, 08:49:10 AM
My recommendation for an alternative recording:

[asin]B002SR3Y56[/asin]
Q

Seconded. Wonderful disc!  0:)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: TheGSMoeller on June 10, 2018, 11:25:27 AM
Quote from: 71 dB on June 10, 2018, 10:13:29 AM
Seconded. Wonderful disc!  0:)

Third-ed  ;D
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: 71 dB on June 10, 2018, 11:55:05 AM
Quote from: kyjo on June 10, 2018, 09:25:03 AM
The Piano Trio is gorgeous. I think I prefer it to the two piano quintets, great as they are.

Somehow I have almost ignored this work, but I'm listening* to it again after 10 years or so.

* Dumay, Lodeón and Collard
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Baron Scarpia on June 11, 2018, 08:16:21 AM
I've moved on to the Piano Quintet No 2, and have to admit I've been getting fatigued of the Domus recordings, which are a bit dry for my taste, with a string sound that can be a bit grating. I've continued with the Pascal Roge/Quatour Ysaye recording on Decca.

I find the work itself to be very fine. The first movement begins with a flowing piano figure against which strings introduce the primary theme, first solo, later in unison and in rich harmonization. A second theme begins with what sounds like an academic fugue, but this quickly evolves into free-flowing counterpoint. What I enjoy most about this quartet is the way that rather sharp functional dissonances are used as an expressive device. The scherzo is similar to the others in the series, initially dominated by intense writing for piano, with a central section where more lyrical contributions from the strings come to the fore. The slow movement, in my impression, is a continuation of the mood of the first movement, with lyrical writing for strings with sometimes dissonant harmonization dominating the music. The finale takes us from a rather jaunty beginning to a sublime close. I think of this as one of Faure's best works.

The Roge/Ysaye recording on Decca pleased me more than Domus (which doesn't seem to have the same magic as Susan Tomes' later ensemble, the Florestan Trio). Pascal Roge finds brings out Faure's subtle writing for piano better and the string ensemble is more flexible and expressive. Decca provides audio that has more "air" and is more pleasing to me. I think I will revisit the other piano quartets and quintet in the Roge/Ysaye recordings.

[asin]B00003ZA66[/asin]

Lastly will be the trio. The last time I listened to it, not long ago, was after listening to the Debussy and Ravel Piano Trios, and by contrast the Faure seemed disappointingly fore-square. I will approach it again shortly.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on August 30, 2018, 05:09:38 AM
I'm trying to look for this gorgeous album on CD...

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81Vp%2B7hw2KL._SX355_.jpg)

So far, my only hit is one copy on Amazon Canada for over 200 Canadian dollars. Even if I was willing to spend that, Amazon is no good to me these days.

Any ideas or suggestions? Or do I just resign myself to iTunes?

EDIT: Slight progress, there's a copy on Amazon France/UK marketplaces for only about $140 dollars...
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Draško on August 31, 2018, 02:15:25 AM
Quote from: Madiel on August 30, 2018, 05:09:38 AM
I'm trying to look for this gorgeous album on CD...

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81Vp%2B7hw2KL._SX355_.jpg)

So far, my only hit is one copy on Amazon Canada for over 200 Canadian dollars. Even if I was willing to spend that, Amazon is no good to me these days.

Any ideas or suggestions? Or do I just resign myself to iTunes?

EDIT: Slight progress, there's a copy on Amazon France/UK marketplaces for only about $140 dollars...

There is a Parisian specialized second hand store that use to be called La Chaumière à Musique, now changed the name to Melomania, that is usually very well stocked with hard to find releases. They don't have it at the moment but you can try emailing them.

https://www.melomania.com/fr/melodies-55973
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on August 31, 2018, 02:24:46 AM
Quote from: Draško on August 31, 2018, 02:15:25 AM
There is a Parisian specialized second hand store that use to be called La Chaumière à Musique, now changed the name to Melomania, that is usually very well stocked with hard to find releases. They don't have it at the moment but you can try emailing them.

https://www.melomania.com/fr/melodies-55973

Thanks. I see that they have an alert system, which is a great idea, so I've set one up for the album.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mandryka on August 31, 2018, 11:07:06 AM
There was a really hot night here in the Uk a couple of months ago. I couldn't sleep and so just got out of bed and made a drink at about 3 a.m. and I noticed that someone had sent me Eric Heidsieck's recording of the piano preludes. Very good -- or at least it sounded good that night. I think some of the late pieces are pleasant to hear, the trio, late nocturnes, these preludes, second quartet . . . .
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on August 31, 2018, 02:57:49 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on August 31, 2018, 11:07:06 AM
There was a really hot night here in the Uk a couple of months ago. I couldn't sleep and so just got out of bed and made a drink at about 3 a.m. and I noticed that someone had sent me Eric Heidsieck's recording of the piano preludes. Very good -- or at least it sounded good that night. I think some of the late pieces are pleasant to hear, the trio, late nocturnes, these preludes, second quartet . . . .

Late pieces are "pleasant to hear?" That is the last thing I would expect to hear about them. They generally strike me as turbulently passionate. (I am thinking specifically about the solo piano music.)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: amw on August 31, 2018, 03:08:17 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on August 31, 2018, 11:07:06 AMI noticed that someone had sent me Eric Heidsieck's recording of the piano preludes.
I don't know those but the Heidsieck & Tortelier recordings of the cello sonatas are definitely special. Maybe almost too intense, at times, but good.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on August 31, 2018, 03:27:15 PM
Quote from: amw on August 31, 2018, 03:08:17 PM
I don't know those but the Heidsieck & Tortelier recordings of the cello sonatas are definitely special. Maybe almost too intense, at times, but good.

I listened to that recently and got the impression that Heidsieck was a bit uncontrolled. I settled on Lodeon/Collard as my most preferred recording.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on August 31, 2018, 03:31:08 PM
Heidsieck/Tortelier ended up being one of the rare times I decided I needed to go get a 2nd recording of something. It's just too aggressive. As, I think, is mentioned earlier in this thread.

I found this one more to my liking.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81oeBrm8zvL._SX425_.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: amw on August 31, 2018, 03:47:51 PM
That's fair enough. I have five other recordings of the sonatas (...so far) and I guess I tend to keep that one for special occasions.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on August 31, 2018, 03:55:10 PM
What are the five?

Looking at my notes, my favorite version is actually Peter Bruns/Roglit Ishay, using an Erard piano.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: amw on August 31, 2018, 04:11:39 PM
Bruns, Gaillard, Merlin, Poltéra & Salque.

I haven't noted down a favourite. It seems to depend very much on my mood/the current situation.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mandryka on August 31, 2018, 08:49:02 PM
How agressive and passionate late Fauré wanted his late music to be played is an interesting historical question, or rather,  when I used to listen to this stuff more I remember looking into it, there's some research about it.

I don't know about the cello sonata, and neither do I know about "uncontroled'", but I do recall that in Heidsieck's  recording of the  Nocturnes there was a very convincing sense of natural progress in the music, the development of ideas in each nocturn sounded logical. For this reason I rated them highly.

As far as the preludes are concerned, I don't know the music well enough to comment on how successful Heidsieck's  performance is, apart to say that it was fun to listen to once at 3 a.m. I suspect that the preludes are rather good bits of music,
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on August 31, 2018, 08:59:54 PM
Fauré definitely complained about people playing his music in an overly demure fashion.

And the cello sonatas are definitely pretty passionate affairs. Nevertheless, that particular recording is just too spiky in my opinion. Fauré needs flow. The sense of line is paramount.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Florestan on September 01, 2018, 02:34:00 AM
Quote from: Madiel on August 31, 2018, 08:59:54 PM
Fauré definitely complained about people playing his music in an overly demure fashion.

Am i right in presuming he made that complaint late in his life?

QuoteFauré needs flow. The sense of line is paramount.

Fully agreed. "Aggressive" of "uncontrolled" are not at all on the same page as Fauré.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on September 01, 2018, 02:52:46 AM
Quote from: Florestan on September 01, 2018, 02:34:00 AM
Am i right in presuming he made that complaint late in his life?

You made me go hunting. It appears to be something Marguerite Long reported him as saying, and she worked with him in roughly the first decade of the 20th century.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Florestan on September 01, 2018, 03:33:49 AM
Quote from: Madiel on September 01, 2018, 02:52:46 AM
You made me go hunting. It appears to be something Marguerite Long reported him as saying, and she worked with him in roughly the first decade of the 20th century.

Thanks. Well, to me it sounds just like the right time for the shift from "the old musical outlook when music was still a vehicle for expression and when it was still permissible and not ridiculous to feel and disclose one's feelings" (Leonid Sabaneyev) to the new, (back then new, I mean), more objective, cold, restrained and detached outlook, which to an old guard like Fauré might indeed have appeared as demure. Needless to say, I'm with him all the way.

Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mandryka on September 01, 2018, 04:08:57 AM
Someone once told me that Jessica Duchen talks about how he wanted the music to be played in her book, I haven't read it. The early players like Hubeau didn't play particularly restrained way do they -- it's years since I listened to them.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Florestan on September 01, 2018, 04:39:34 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on September 01, 2018, 04:08:57 AM
Someone once told me that Jessica Duchen talks about how he wanted the music to be played in her book, I haven't read it. The early players like Hubeau didn't play particularly restrained way do they -- it's years since I listened to them.

On the topic of how he wanted his music to be played, Marguerite Long has this to say:

Nevertheless, the paradoxes in Fauré sometimes bewildered me. Despite his very great respect for tradition, he was much less intransigent when it came to his own compositions. He could even be disconcerting. During a rehearsal of one of his works, the conductor was not sure about a point in the score, so he asked Fauré, who replied apathetically: "Well, I don't really know." One day, arriving at my house unexpectedly, he found me at the piano, playing his Theme and Variations, which had just been given as a companion-piece at the Conservatoire, of which he was the Director. I said to him: "Will you let the ascending passage in the second-last variation be played in octaves?" "Oh, no," he said, "not in octaves. I forbid it. I detest that." Nonetheless, on the day of the competition he allowed it. Why? Because at heart he did not care. For him his work was like a bottle at sea. He had other points in common with Alfred de Vigny: a patrician turn of mind and the same indifference to the work once it had been completed.

    Marguerite Long, in At the Piano with Gabriel Fauré (1963), pp. 70-71


Now that I think about it, it rather contradicts his complaining --- reported by the self same Marguerite Long --- about his music being played in an overly demure fashion. Go figure.  ???


Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on September 01, 2018, 05:02:03 AM
I've seen some doubts expressed about just how reliable Mme. Long was as to facts... and apparently they had a bit of a falling out.

At the same time, I could well believe Faure being a bit of a contradictory person.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Florestan on September 01, 2018, 05:16:34 AM
Quote from: Madiel on September 01, 2018, 05:02:03 AM
I could well believe Faure being a bit of a contradictory person.

I sometimes think that every great artist is a bit of a contradictory person, and that those who aren't a bit contradictory aren't actually great artists.  :D

Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Brian on January 15, 2019, 06:28:06 AM
(https://cdn.naxosmusiclibrary.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/BIS-2389.jpg)

World premiere recordings for a piano sonata and mazurka written by the teenaged Fauré:

"The manuscript of the Sonata, N. 5, so far unpublished, is dated 6th April 1863, and is preserved at the Beinecke Library at Yale University. Fauré never intended to publish it, no doubt considering that, being written in the style of earlier masters and having what he found to be an impersonal character, it did not merit publication. Today, however, with our knowledge of the composer's career, we can take a different view. This sonata – which may have been composed as a teaching piece for its dedicatee Marguerite Paringaux, daughter of the composer's sister Rose, or as a composition exercise at the École Niedermeyer – is remarkable for its adoption of a musical style from the turn of the 18th/19th centuries, very different from that used by Fauré in his other early pieces. One could even imagine that each of its movements imitates one of the three Viennese masters: Mozart in the opening Allegro ma non troppo, Beethoven in the minuet (which recalls the In tempo di Menuetto from the latter's Op. 22 Piano Sonata) and Haydn in the piquant finale with its many interruptions. Throughout the sonata, Fauré – not without humour – parodies the compositional principles of the period and enriches the score with unexpected twists. He also provides us with an interesting insight into how these principles might have been perceived and interpreted in the 1860s."

- Jean-Pierre Bartoli, in the booklet notes
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Florestan on January 15, 2019, 11:52:17 AM
Quote from: Brian on January 15, 2019, 06:28:06 AM
(https://cdn.naxosmusiclibrary.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/BIS-2389.jpg)

World premiere recordings for a piano sonata and mazurka written by the teenaged Fauré:

"The manuscript of the Sonata, N. 5, so far unpublished, is dated 6th April 1863, and is preserved at the Beinecke Library at Yale University. Fauré never intended to publish it, no doubt considering that, being written in the style of earlier masters and having what he found to be an impersonal character, it did not merit publication. Today, however, with our knowledge of the composer's career, we can take a different view. This sonata – which may have been composed as a teaching piece for its dedicatee Marguerite Paringaux, daughter of the composer's sister Rose, or as a composition exercise at the École Niedermeyer – is remarkable for its adoption of a musical style from the turn of the 18th/19th centuries, very different from that used by Fauré in his other early pieces. One could even imagine that each of its movements imitates one of the three Viennese masters: Mozart in the opening Allegro ma non troppo, Beethoven in the minuet (which recalls the In tempo di Menuetto from the latter's Op. 22 Piano Sonata) and Haydn in the piquant finale with its many interruptions. Throughout the sonata, Fauré – not without humour – parodies the compositional principles of the period and enriches the score with unexpected twists. He also provides us with an interesting insight into how these principles might have been perceived and interpreted in the 1860s."

- Jean-Pierre Bartoli, in the booklet notes

Most interesting, the description reminds me a bit of Gounod's charming Sonata for Piano Four Hands, although I'd replace Haydn with Schubert and change the order in which they appear.

Quibble: the authors of the art cover might fancy that Mazurke somehow sounds more French than Mazurka, but they've come up with an inexistent word.  :)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 15, 2019, 12:03:24 PM
Mazurke may be what Faure himself scrawled on the unpublished manuscript.

My first instinct is that since it is Faure I must hear it. But these parodies of 'ancient' music never seem to resonate with me.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Florestan on January 15, 2019, 12:37:34 PM
Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 15, 2019, 12:03:24 PM
Mazurke may be what Faure himself scrawled on the unpublished manuscript.

This very thought crossed my mind before posting my quibble; given Chopin, I doubted it, but a photograph of the original manuscript will make me stand corrected.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on January 15, 2019, 06:08:21 PM
Quote from: Brian on January 15, 2019, 06:28:06 AM
(https://cdn.naxosmusiclibrary.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/BIS-2389.jpg)

World premiere recordings for a piano sonata and mazurka written by the teenaged Fauré:

"The manuscript of the Sonata, N. 5, so far unpublished, is dated 6th April 1863, and is preserved at the Beinecke Library at Yale University. Fauré never intended to publish it, no doubt considering that, being written in the style of earlier masters and having what he found to be an impersonal character, it did not merit publication. Today, however, with our knowledge of the composer's career, we can take a different view. This sonata – which may have been composed as a teaching piece for its dedicatee Marguerite Paringaux, daughter of the composer's sister Rose, or as a composition exercise at the École Niedermeyer – is remarkable for its adoption of a musical style from the turn of the 18th/19th centuries, very different from that used by Fauré in his other early pieces. One could even imagine that each of its movements imitates one of the three Viennese masters: Mozart in the opening Allegro ma non troppo, Beethoven in the minuet (which recalls the In tempo di Menuetto from the latter's Op. 22 Piano Sonata) and Haydn in the piquant finale with its many interruptions. Throughout the sonata, Fauré – not without humour – parodies the compositional principles of the period and enriches the score with unexpected twists. He also provides us with an interesting insight into how these principles might have been perceived and interpreted in the 1860s."

- Jean-Pierre Bartoli, in the booklet notes

Is this already released? I looked for it on Deezer (which generally has BIS recordings) but can't find it.

If they're world premiere recordings, this at least explains why I've never heard these pieces despite knowing about them from a works list for years.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on January 15, 2019, 06:11:14 PM
Just listened to samples on the BIS website.

The sonata does not sound remotely like Faure. Not even close.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on January 27, 2019, 03:33:09 PM
Here's perhaps a rather inane question, but if you could sum up in one sentence Fauré's musical style (and general compositional voice), what would be your response?
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on January 27, 2019, 05:34:20 PM
Quote from: Mirror Image on January 27, 2019, 03:33:09 PM
Here's perhaps a rather inane question, but if you could sum up in one sentence Fauré's musical style (and general compositional voice), what would be your response?

Flowing melodies that twist and turn, and struggle more and more as he gets older.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on January 27, 2019, 05:55:16 PM
Quote from: Madiel on January 27, 2019, 05:34:20 PM
Flowing melodies that twist and turn, and struggle more and more as he gets older.

Fascinating description. Care to elaborate on this idea? The reasoning for my initial question is that I'm a complete Fauré noob in the regard that I'm just finally clicking with his music after nine years of questioning and figuring out why it was so elusive to me.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on January 27, 2019, 06:16:01 PM
Quote from: Mirror Image on January 27, 2019, 05:55:16 PM
Fascinating description. Care to elaborate on this idea? The reasoning for my initial question is that I'm a complete Fauré noob in the regard that I'm just finally clicking with his music after nine years of questioning and figuring out why it was so elusive to me.

I think it's elusive to a lot of performers as well. Kathryn Stott's set of piano music (which is pretty much where I started many years ago) refers to how the music is often insanely difficult to pull off without being "showy" or virtuosic, which has put a lot of pianists off. What's the point of working so hard if the audience isn't going to realise how hard you're working?...

Anyway, I think it's characteristic of a lot of Faure's music that there aren't many clear musical paragraphs and dividing lines. Yes, it's tonal music, but all those shifting harmonies mean that he often approaches a destination very eliptically, gliding in instead of having a clear emphatic cadence. It's very much about flow.

But one of the things that really divides Faure's career to me is whether that flow feels easy or hard. In early works, melodies tend to soar easily and freely and the harmonic sleights of hand are clever. In the middle period it often feels like there's hesitation and a searching quality. And in the later works, there's often a sense of real struggle, as if the music wants to soar like the early stuff but can't get there. It aches.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on January 27, 2019, 06:24:33 PM
Quote from: Madiel on January 27, 2019, 06:16:01 PM
I think it's elusive to a lot of performers as well. Kathryn Stott's set of piano music (which is pretty much where I started many years ago) refers to how the music is often insanely difficult to pull off without being "showy" or virtuosic, which has put a lot of pianists off. What's the point of working so hard if the audience isn't going to realise how hard you're working?...

Anyway, I think it's characteristic of a lot of Faure's music that there aren't many clear musical paragraphs and dividing lines. Yes, it's tonal music, but all those shifting harmonies mean that he often approaches a destination very eliptically, gliding in instead of having a clear emphatic cadence. It's very much about flow.

But one of the things that really divides Faure's career to me is whether that flow feels easy or hard. In early works, melodies tend to soar easily and freely and the harmonic sleights of hand are clever. In the middle period it often feels like there's hesitation and a searching quality. And in the later works, there's often a sense of real struggle, as if the music wants to soar like the early stuff but can't get there. It aches.

Thanks for the clarification. It seems that Fauré's music really resonates with you. For this, I think people, like yourself, are beneficial to those listeners who have yet to figure out the composer as your descriptions and general opinion of the music can help guide us along.

P.S. Sorry about being an ass to you many months ago. I hope we can move on from here with even more ease.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mandryka on January 28, 2019, 01:08:03 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81a1NI6LlzL._SL1200_.jpg)

I listened to the op 108 sonata here, I'm not totally sure who's playing piano, but it made me think that the qualities I value most from the late music at least are lightness and transparency.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on January 28, 2019, 06:31:15 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on January 28, 2019, 01:08:03 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81a1NI6LlzL._SL1200_.jpg)

I listened to the op 108 sonata here, I'm not totally sure who's playing piano, but it made me think that the qualities I value most from the late music at least are lightness and transparency.

I've read a review (or two) where the reviewer mentions the audio quality of this set isn't very good. What's your take on it, Mandryka?
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: 71 dB on January 28, 2019, 08:44:07 AM
Quote from: Mirror Image on January 27, 2019, 05:55:16 PM
The reasoning for my initial question is that I'm a complete Fauré noob in the regard that I'm just finally clicking with his music after nine years of questioning and figuring out why it was so elusive to me.

Somehow Fauré's music clicked with me instantly. I have never struggled with Fauré. He has been one of the easiest composers for me to get into. I just love his harmonic nyances and how everything seems both rational and emotional at the same time. His chamber music, especially the Piano Quintets, blew me away. His Requiem is my favorite Requiem. He isn't the greatest with orchestral music and his output in general is a bit limited, but you can't have everything. I enjoy pretty much every note he composed. To me is incomprehensible how someone can find Fauré elusive, but we are different. To me Verdi and Rossini are totally elusive and for many that might seem incomprehensible.  ;D
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 09:03:53 AM
Quote from: 71 dB on January 28, 2019, 08:44:07 AM
Somehow Fauré's music clicked with me instantly. I have never struggled with Fauré. He has been one of the easiest composers for me to get into. I just love his harmonic nyances and how everything seems both rational and emotional at the same time. His chamber music, especially the Piano Quintets, blew me away. His Requiem is my favorite Requiem. He isn't the greatest with orchestral music and his output in general is a bit limited, but you can't have everything. I enjoy pretty much every note he composed. To me is incomprehensible how someone can find Fauré elusive, but we are different. To me Verdi and Rossini are totally elusive and for many that might seem incomprehensible.  ;D

Well put.

I have enjoyed Faure from the first, but I find it takes effort. Faure, to my ear, has something in common with the spirit of Brahms. Beauties in mature Faure waft by. A beautiful melody may unfold in a seemingly fragmented form. Harmonies are implied by a cascade of flowing arpeggios. He doesn't beat you over the head with his idea, you have to distill it.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on January 28, 2019, 10:08:16 AM
Quote from: 71 dB on January 28, 2019, 08:44:07 AM
Somehow Fauré's music clicked with me instantly. I have never struggled with Fauré. He has been one of the easiest composers for me to get into. I just love his harmonic nyances and how everything seems both rational and emotional at the same time. His chamber music, especially the Piano Quintets, blew me away. His Requiem is my favorite Requiem. He isn't the greatest with orchestral music and his output in general is a bit limited, but you can't have everything. I enjoy pretty much every note he composed. To me is incomprehensible how someone can find Fauré elusive, but we are different. To me Verdi and Rossini are totally elusive and for many that might seem incomprehensible.  ;D

I suppose the same way you can find Sibelius to be such a mystery, but, yes, we're very different and that's a great thing.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: San Antone on January 28, 2019, 10:44:46 AM
Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 09:03:53 AM
Well put.

I have enjoyed Faure from the first, but I find it takes effort. Faure, to my ear, has something in common with the spirit of Brahms. Beauties in mature Faure waft by. A beautiful melody may unfold in a seemingly fragmented form. Harmonies are implied by a cascade of flowing arpeggios. He doesn't beat you over the head with his idea, you have to distill it.

My first exposure to Faure was with the Requiem, which I loved immediately.  Then the chamber music, which also found a home in my heart.  I have listened to the piano music only but superficially, although my impression is positive.   I think I'll listen to the Nocturnes right now.   8)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 10:47:41 AM
Quote from: San Antone on January 28, 2019, 10:44:46 AM
My first exposure to Faure was with the Requiem, which I loved immediately.  Then the chamber music, which also found a home in my heart.  I have listened to the piano music only but superficially, although my impression is positive.   I think I'll listen to the Nocturnes right now.   8)

I'm probably the only Faure fan on earth that has never heard the requiem.  For piano music, I think the Barcarolles are my favorites.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on January 28, 2019, 11:00:08 AM
Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 10:47:41 AM
I'm probably the only Faure fan on earth that has never heard the requiem.  For piano music, I think the Barcarolles are my favorites.

What in the world?!?!?!? [Mouth drops on the floor.]
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: 71 dB on January 28, 2019, 11:33:50 AM
Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 10:47:41 AM
I'm probably the only Faure fan on earth that has never heard the requiem. 

Wow, that is something! A Faure fan who has not heard his Requiem? That's like beeing a Beethoven fanatic who has not heard his fifth symphony! Or an Elgarian who hasn't heard the Enigma Variations. Just wow!  ???  :o

Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: San Antone on January 28, 2019, 11:39:35 AM
Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 10:47:41 AM
I'm probably the only Faure fan on earth that has never heard the requiem.  For piano music, I think the Barcarolles are my favorites.

I chose to listen to Pennetier recordings of the piano works and the first one was Barcarolle no. 7 in D Minor.

(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Aug/Faure_piano_v4_MIR356.jpg)

He doesn't play with abandon but the restraint offers Faure with more transparency .
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 11:44:24 AM
Quote from: 71 dB on January 28, 2019, 11:33:50 AM
Wow, that is something! A Faure fan who has not heard his Requiem? That's like beeing a Beethoven fanatic who has not heard his fifth symphony! Or an Elgarian who hasn't heard the Enigma Variations. Just wow!  ???  :o

I'm not attracted to choral music, and when I get the idea to listen to Faure it never seems to make it to the top of the pile. Someday...
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 11:47:23 AM
Quote from: San Antone on January 28, 2019, 11:39:35 AM
I chose to listen to Pennetier recordings of the piano works and the first one was Barcarolle no. 7 in D Minor.

(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Aug/Faure_piano_v4_MIR356.jpg)

He doesn't play with abandon but the restraint offers Faure with more transparency .

Abandon is rarely the correct approach with Faure, in my experience. My trouble with Faure is when I listen to a piece, I want to hear it again, and again, and again before going on to another piece. He demands a lot of time, despite a relatively small body of works.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: 71 dB on January 28, 2019, 11:47:49 AM
Quote from: Mirror Image on January 28, 2019, 10:08:16 AM
I suppose the same way you can find Sibelius to be such a mystery, but, yes, we're very different and that's a great thing.

I wouldn't say I find Sibelius to be a mystery. I used to be into Sibelius briefly the early phases of my classical music discovery, before I found out there is much better stuff out there.  0:) I can say the second and seventh symphonies had an important role in preparing me for all the great stuff classical music has to offer.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: 71 dB on January 28, 2019, 11:52:30 AM
Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 11:44:24 AM
I'm not attracted to choral music, and when I get the idea to listen to Faure it never seems to make it to the top of the pile. Someday...

Chances are after hearing Faure's Requiem you ARE more attracted to choral music.  0:)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 11:58:49 AM
Quote from: 71 dB on January 28, 2019, 11:52:30 AM
Chances are after hearing Faure's Requiem you ARE more attracted to choral music.  0:)

Could be. The rare choral music I enjoy is mostly Bach, with a few other exceptions such as the Mozart mass in c minor and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms. An intimate ensemble is most attractive to me. Maybe Faure will be another exception.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Jo498 on January 28, 2019, 12:10:13 PM
I like choral music and I like Fauré's chamber and piano music but I am not fond of that Requiem either...
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 12:13:19 PM
Quote from: Jo498 on January 28, 2019, 12:10:13 PM
I like choral music and I like Fauré's chamber and piano music but I am not fond of that Requiem either...

I can't say I'm not fond of it, I've never heard it.  :laugh:
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: San Antone on January 28, 2019, 12:29:04 PM
Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 11:47:23 AM
Abandon is rarely the correct approach with Faure, in my experience. My trouble with Faure is when I listen to a piece, I want to hear it again, and again, and again before going on to another piece. He demands a lot of time, despite a relatively small body of works.

Oh, I wasn't complaining, and "abandon" might not have been the best word.  His approach is not in the "Romantic" style; more understated and reserved.  Which suits the late works, I think very well.  I read somewhere that he studied with a student of Faure's and was taught to play the music with minimum pedaling.  I think the idea is to emphasize the counterpoint in the works and keep things clear, but not dry.

He has lived with these works for years, and waited until he was late in his career to commit them to recordings.  I really enjoy his approach.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mandryka on January 28, 2019, 12:57:49 PM
Quote from: Mirror Image on January 28, 2019, 06:31:15 AM
I've read a review (or two) where the reviewer mentions the audio quality of this set isn't very good. What's your take on it, Mandryka?

In op 108 the piano sounds further away than the violin, the violin is playing right in my ear and the piano is in another room, I exaggerate in a way, in fact I never noticed it until I listened specifically for the sound.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 12:59:00 PM
I wasn't suspecting you of being a complainer. :)

Most of my Faure listening has been Stott, which I find very satisfying. Listening to other pianists, Hubeau, Doyen, Collard, impressed on me how these works can sound different at the hands of a different pianists, even if it is hard to put my finger on exactly why.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on January 28, 2019, 01:43:44 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on January 28, 2019, 12:57:49 PM
In op 108 the piano sounds further away than the violin, the violin is playing right in my ear and the piano is in another room, I exaggerate in a way, in fact I never noticed it until I listened specifically for the sound.

Thanks for the feedback. :)

Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 12:59:00 PM
I wasn't suspecting you of being a complainer. :)

Most of my Faure listening has been Stott, which I find very satisfying. Listening to other pianists, Hubeau, Doyen, Collard, impressed on me how these works can sound different at the hands of a different pianists, even if it is hard to put my finger on exactly why.

Would you say Stott's set is worth picking up, Scarps? It's in my queue at Amazon right now.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 01:50:07 PM
I hesitate to tell people how to spend their money, but I have gotten nothing but enjoyment from Stott's set. My exposure to Faure piano music was Collard, Stott, Hubeau and Doyen (in that order) and I mostly frequently find myself listening to Stott.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on January 28, 2019, 01:51:31 PM
Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 01:50:07 PM
I hesitate to tell people how to spend their money, but I have gotten nothing but enjoyment from Stott's set. My exposure to Faure piano music was Collard, Stott, Hubeau and Doyen (in that order) and I mostly frequently find myself listening to Stott.

Very good to know. Thanks for the feedback.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Que on January 28, 2019, 02:25:24 PM
Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 01:50:07 PM
I hesitate to tell people how to spend their money, but I have gotten nothing but enjoyment from Stott's set. My exposure to Faure piano music was Collard, Stott, Hubeau and Doyen (in that order) and I mostly frequently find myself listening to Stott.

Thanks for that.  :)  I haven't got along with Collard... Need to try one of the others..

And what about Paul Crossley or Jean-Claude Pennetier?

Though, probably not a suprise coming from me, the music seems to cry out for the sound colours of an Érard....

If it was good enough for Fauré, it's certainly good enough for me... 8)

Q
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 28, 2019, 02:32:54 PM
Quote from: Que on January 28, 2019, 02:25:24 PM
Thanks for that.  :)  I haven't got along with Collard... Need to try one of the others..

And what about Paul Crossley or Jean-Claude Pennetier?

Though, probably not a suprise coming from me, the music seems to cry out for the sound colours of an Érard....

If it was good enough for Fauré, it's certainly good enough for me... 8)

Q

The only disc I know of which used a period piano for Faure is a recording of Cello and Piano music with Peter Bruns and Roglit Ishay. (I'm not saying others don't exist.)

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51hKE1jxRDL.jpg)

At first I was taken aback by the "authentic" tone of the period cello, but I've come to enjoy this disc.

Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: San Antone on January 28, 2019, 02:55:08 PM
Quote from: Que on January 28, 2019, 02:25:24 PM
Thanks for that.  :)  I haven't got along with Collard... Need to try one of the others..

And what about Paul Crossley or Charles Pennetier?

Though, probably not a suprise coming from me, the music seems to cry out for the sound colours of an Érard....

If it was good enough for Fauré, it's certainly good enough for me... 8)

Q

I think you mean Jean-Claude Pennetier - he has recorded four CDs of Faure's piano music.  I like his approach quite a bit: very much in the spirit of the music as I understand it - nothing exaggerated, sparingly use of pedaling so that the textures are transparent, allowing the listener to appreciate Faure's interior writing to the fullest.

I also agree on Stott's performances.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Que on January 28, 2019, 09:47:38 PM
Quote from: San Antone on January 28, 2019, 02:55:08 PM
I think you mean Jean-Claude Pennetier - he has recorded four CDs of Faure's piano music.  I like his approach quite a bit: very much in the spirit of the music as I understand it - nothing exaggerated, sparingly use of pedaling so that the textures are transparent, allowing the listener to appreciate Faure's interior writing to the fullest.

I also agree on Stott's performances.

Indeed, corrected. Thanks for the comments.  :)

Q
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mandryka on January 29, 2019, 12:44:15 AM
Here's a nice historic one that I like

https://www.youtube.com/v/Ui2fi_YUm4A
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on January 29, 2019, 01:01:35 AM
Quote from: Mirror Image on January 27, 2019, 06:24:33 PM
Thanks for the clarification. It seems that Fauré's music really resonates with you. For this, I think people, like yourself, are beneficial to those listeners who have yet to figure out the composer as your descriptions and general opinion of the music can help guide us along.

P.S. Sorry about being an ass to you many months ago. I hope we can move on from here with even more ease.

Yes, Faure's music really resonates with me. Faure and Holmboe are the composers where I'm most likely to go on a mad binge listening to lots of works... and I think Faure would win. It doesn't mean I listen all the time, but when I do listen there's a high likelihood of me thinking "that's fantastic" and reaching for more. This thread and other reminders of Faure are dangerous.

And when my grandmother died a few years back, Faure's 10 large chamber pieces were basically the only thing I listened to for a couple of weeks. So yes, it's stuff that's very close to me.

But I don't own a recording of the Requiem. It's on my to-do list, I was trying a few out some months ago and didn't go back to that task (I can probably alternate with my Bach cello suites task). It's the chamber music, the piano music (some of which I've played), also the songs to a large extent though the later songs are not fully unlocked for me yet (some performances in the Hyperion series were disappointing).

Apology accepted and we seem to be getting along just fine at the moment.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)- for cello and piano
Post by: Ras on January 29, 2019, 04:04:47 AM
I'm new to the music on this recording (so take this recommendation with a grain of salt), but I think the Danish cellist Andreas Brantelid and the Swedish pianist Bengt Forsberg do a great job with Faure for cello and piano (on the Bis label):
(Brantelid's recording of Chopin's chamber music on EMI is great too by the way...).

[asin]B06XS78Y51[/asin]
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on January 29, 2019, 06:41:47 AM
Quote from: Madiel on January 29, 2019, 01:01:35 AM
Yes, Faure's music really resonates with me. Faure and Holmboe are the composers where I'm most likely to go on a mad binge listening to lots of works... and I think Faure would win. It doesn't mean I listen all the time, but when I do listen there's a high likelihood of me thinking "that's fantastic" and reaching for more. This thread and other reminders of Faure are dangerous.

And when my grandmother died a few years back, Faure's 10 large chamber pieces were basically the only thing I listened to for a couple of weeks. So yes, it's stuff that's very close to me.

But I don't own a recording of the Requiem. It's on my to-do list, I was trying a few out some months ago and didn't go back to that task (I can probably alternate with my Bach cello suites task). It's the chamber music, the piano music (some of which I've played), also the songs to a large extent though the later songs are not fully unlocked for me yet (some performances in the Hyperion series were disappointing).

Apology accepted and we seem to be getting along just fine at the moment.

That's great to hear. I'm getting closer and closer to Faure. I think one problem I was having were the performances that I owned (many of the Hyperion recordings). It seems now I'm starting to 'crack the code' so to speak.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on January 29, 2019, 01:09:10 PM
Quote from: Mirror Image on January 29, 2019, 06:41:47 AM
That's great to hear. I'm getting closer and closer to Faure. I think one problem I was having were the performances that I owned (many of the Hyperion recordings). It seems now I'm starting to 'crack the code' so to speak.

Well I completely love the Domus/Florestan recordings on Hyperion, so... *shrug*
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: 71 dB on January 29, 2019, 02:05:40 PM
Herreweghe's second recording of Requiem (1901 version) is a dud in my opinion. I was shocked when I heard it the first time a few years ago. I listened to it again yesterday and still dislike it. It seem the large orchestra destroys this work completely. My other version of Requiem is Jeremy Summerly on Naxos which is far superior imo.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 29, 2019, 02:47:09 PM
Quote from: Madiel on January 29, 2019, 01:09:10 PM
Well I completely love the Domus/Florestan recordings on Hyperion, so... *shrug*

I like those, but like Roge/Quator Ysaye better, by a narrow margin.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 29, 2019, 02:55:44 PM
Quote from: 71 dB on January 29, 2019, 02:05:40 PM
Herreweghe's second recording of Requiem (1901 version) is a dud in my opinion. I was shocked when I heard it the first time a few years ago. I listened to it again yesterday and still dislike it. It seem the large orchestra destroys this work completely. My other version of Requiem is Jeremy Summerly on Naxos which is far superior imo.

I was thinking of listening to my Herreweghe recording, which seems to be an 1893 version. Sounds like you would prefer that one. I also have recordings of it in various big boxes (Ansermet, Cluytens) which I assume would use the bigger orchestra by default.

Note added: I see my Shaw recording (Telarc) also seems to be the 1893 version. The notes to that recording seem to indicate that the published 1901 version was approved by Faure but re-orchestrated by someone else, no score of the 1893 edition exists, but it was reconstructed in 1984 by John Rutter. So any recording prior to 1984 is presumably the big orchestra 1901 version.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on January 29, 2019, 07:17:20 PM
Quote from: 71 dB on January 29, 2019, 02:05:40 PM
Herreweghe's second recording of Requiem (1901 version) is a dud in my opinion. I was shocked when I heard it the first time a few years ago. I listened to it again yesterday and still dislike it. It seem the large orchestra destroys this work completely. My other version of Requiem is Jeremy Summerly on Naxos which is far superior imo.

Herreweghe's first recording is his best one, IMHO. I can't imagine that Naxos recording being too good.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on January 29, 2019, 07:21:27 PM
Quote from: Madiel on January 29, 2019, 01:09:10 PM
Well I completely love the Domus/Florestan recordings on Hyperion, so... *shrug*

Yeah, I've heard those Hyperion recordings several times, but I wonder if my impressions of them would be more favorable now that Faure has clicked with me? I also own these Harmonia Mundi recordings featuring Faure's chamber music:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81-IAy%2B27AL._SL1000_.jpg) (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/9182P2P48SL._SL1500_.jpg)

The best I can remember, these recordings were quite good. I should revisit them as well.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Florestan on January 30, 2019, 01:22:52 AM
The Kathryn Stott set is the first Faure I've ever heard and it blew me away instantly. FWIW, here are my reviews.

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,9.msg19995.html#msg19995 (http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,9.msg19995.html#msg19995)

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,9.msg21793.html#msg21793 (http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,9.msg21793.html#msg21793)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: 71 dB on January 30, 2019, 02:36:46 AM
Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on January 29, 2019, 02:55:44 PM
I was thinking of listening to my Herreweghe recording, which seems to be an 1893 version. Sounds like you would prefer that one. I also have recordings of it in various big boxes (Ansermet, Cluytens) which I assume would use the bigger orchestra by default.

Note added: I see my Shaw recording (Telarc) also seems to be the 1893 version. The notes to that recording seem to indicate that the published 1901 version was approved by Faure but re-orchestrated by someone else, no score of the 1893 edition exists, but it was reconstructed in 1984 by John Rutter. So any recording prior to 1984 is presumably the big orchestra 1901 version.

I had forgotten the Faure Requiem versions thing and before the Herreweghe 2nd I did not even care. The Naxos version was prepared by Denis Arnold in 1983. It uses the original instrumentation whilst including all 7 movements (the early versions did not include Offertoire and Libera me). Faure deliberable wanted light orchestration for this work as an reaction ot Berlioz's massive Requiem. I bought the Herreweghe 2nd to have the large orchestra version thinking Herreweghe is a quarantee of quality.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: 71 dB on January 30, 2019, 02:45:22 AM
Quote from: Mirror Image on January 29, 2019, 07:21:27 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81-IAy%2B27AL._SL1000_.jpg)

I think this is excellent.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Biffo on January 30, 2019, 03:02:33 AM
Quote from: 71 dB on January 30, 2019, 02:36:46 AM
I had forgotten the Faure Requiem versions thing and before the Herreweghe 2nd I did not even care. The Naxos version was prepared by Denis Arnold in 1983. It uses the original instrumentation whilst including all 7 movements (the early versions did not include Offertoire and Libera me). Faure deliberable wanted light orchestration for this work as an reaction ot Berlioz's massive Requiem. I bought the Herreweghe 2nd to have the large orchestra version thinking Herreweghe is a quarantee of quality.

Faure assembled his Requiem over a number of years and my understanding was that it was a reaction against the trivial music that was usually played in La Madeleine where he was organist. The small orchestra was a reflection of the modest resources available. The full orchestral version was written some time later at the request of his publisher.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on January 30, 2019, 06:28:08 AM
Quote from: Florestan on January 30, 2019, 01:22:52 AM
The Kathryn Stott set is the first Faure I've ever heard and it blew me away instantly. FWIW, here are my reviews.

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,9.msg19995.html#msg19995 (http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,9.msg19995.html#msg19995)

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,9.msg21793.html#msg21793 (http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,9.msg21793.html#msg21793)

Excellent! Glad I bought the set. 8)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on February 01, 2019, 06:36:57 AM
If you're looking for a more intimate atmosphere in the Requiem, then check out this Hyperion recording:

(https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571282091.png)

Truly a moving performance of the Requiem and the other choral works are gorgeous.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: 71 dB on February 01, 2019, 08:18:10 AM
Quote from: Mirror Image on February 01, 2019, 06:36:57 AM
If you're looking for a more intimate atmosphere in the Requiem, then check out this Hyperion recording:

(https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571282091.png)

Truly a moving performance of the Requiem and the other choral works are gorgeous.

Thanks, added to my wishlist.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on February 01, 2019, 06:44:32 PM
Quote from: 71 dB on February 01, 2019, 08:18:10 AM
Thank, added to my wishlist.

You're welcome. I think you'll enjoy it as it's arrangement (by David Hill) is for soloists, full choir, violin, cello, harp, and organ. I've always had issues with the full orchestra version of this work as I felt everything was muddled (but this could very well just be my nasty ears). :) Anyway, I just like the amount of detail, subtlety, and clarity I hear in this particular arrangement as opposed to the full orchestra one.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on February 01, 2019, 08:47:54 PM
I am very much planning, when I finally get a Requiem, to get Faure's earlier version not the full orchestral one.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on February 01, 2019, 09:12:17 PM
Quote from: Madiel on February 01, 2019, 08:47:54 PM
I am very much planning, when I finally get a Requiem, to get Faure's earlier version not the full orchestral one.

That would be a great choice. Do you have your eye on any particular recording?
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on February 01, 2019, 09:20:40 PM
Quote from: Mirror Image on February 01, 2019, 09:12:17 PM
That would be a great choice. Do you have your eye on any particular recording?

Not yet. I have a bunch of usual random notes of what others have recommended, and then I started listening to everything I could get my hands on at Deezer but hadn't gone very far with that process (I'll probably get back to that soon, actually, and take a break from Bach cello suites).

For everything I listen to, I do look to make a note of which version it is. Some people manage to do the 1900 full orchestration without being stodgy.

I did note with interest that a local (ie Australian) recording seemed rather promising. I hardly have any Australian recordings as most of the time the sources for decent quality reviews are in North America and Europe. It's not as if the ABC makes that many recordings anyway (and hardly anyone else would make any).
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on February 01, 2019, 09:27:26 PM
Quote from: Madiel on February 01, 2019, 09:20:40 PM
Not yet. I have a bunch of usual random notes of what others have recommended, and then I started listening to everything I could get my hands on at Deezer but hadn't gone very far with that process (I'll probably get back to that soon, actually, and take a break from Bach cello suites).

For everything I listen to, I do look to make a note of which version it is. Some people manage to do the 1900 full orchestration without being stodgy.

I did note with interest that a local (ie Australian) recording seemed rather promising. I hardly have any Australian recordings as most of the time the sources for decent quality reviews are in North America and Europe. It's not as if the ABC makes that many recordings anyway (and hardly anyone else would make any).

Very cool. Well, if you have a chance to listen to David Hill's recording (on Hyperion), then please do. Matthew Best (also on Hyperion) has a good one. I'm not sure if Deezer has either of these recordings, but they're definitely worth looking into.

I have to thank ABC for bringing the world the music of Peter Sculthorpe. There's not many recordings of his music outside of this label. I have say that of all the Australian composers I've listened to over the years, he still strikes me a complete original who, for whatever reason, hasn't quite caught on outside of your country, which is a real shame.

[To everyone, please forgive me for derailing this thread. This wasn't my intention as Madiel mentioned the ABC and that sent me on a nonsensical assessment about Sculthorpe's music.]
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on February 01, 2019, 09:52:37 PM
Quote from: Mirror Image on February 01, 2019, 09:27:26 PM
Very cool. Well, if you have a chance to listen to David Hill's recording (on Hyperion), then please do. Matthew Best (also on Hyperion) has a good one. I'm not sure if Deezer has either of these recordings, but they're definitely worth looking into.

Hyperion don't put their recordings on streaming services, unfortunately, though I'm sure I will at least sample them elsewhere. I willingly pursue Hyperion recordings.

The fact that Hill's recording is an arrangement is not ideal for me.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: schnittkease on February 01, 2019, 10:27:52 PM
Quote from: Madiel on February 01, 2019, 09:52:37 PM
Hyperion don't put their recordings on streaming services, unfortunately, though I'm sure I will at least sample them elsewhere. I willingly pursue Hyperion recordings.

Hyperion's annoying that way, but their recordings are usually top-shelf so I tend to rely a bit more on reviews.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on February 02, 2019, 05:42:36 AM
Quote from: Madiel on February 01, 2019, 09:52:37 PM
Hyperion don't put their recordings on streaming services, unfortunately, though I'm sure I will at least sample them elsewhere. I willingly pursue Hyperion recordings.

The fact that Hill's recording is an arrangement is not ideal for me.

Yeah, Hill's recording is probably not the best for someone who doesn't own a recording of the work. Since this is the case, the Best recording should fit the bill.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on February 02, 2019, 06:59:02 AM
I find myself with these two, both of which seem to be of the 1893 version.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31F01NEW93L.jpg)

[asin]B000003CU2[/asin]

I have heard neither, as yet. (I also have recordings of the piece in an Ansermet box and a Cluytens box, but those would be the 1901 version.)

I can't say there is another in the catalog that strikes me as clearly preferable to these. Hopefully I'll get around to listening at some point.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on February 02, 2019, 07:29:21 AM
Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on February 02, 2019, 06:59:02 AM
I find myself with these two, both of which seem to be of the 1893 version.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31F01NEW93L.jpg)

[asin]B000003CU2[/asin]

I have heard neither, as yet. (I also have recordings of the piece in an Ansermet box and a Cluytens box, but those would be the 1901 version.)

I can't say there is another in the catalog that strikes me as clearly preferable to these. Hopefully I'll get around to listening at some point.

That Shaw recording is fantastic. I haven't heard the Ansermet or Cluytens performances. You'll have to let me know what you think of them.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: SurprisedByBeauty on February 10, 2019, 11:59:24 PM
I'm in a Fauré kind of mood...


A Fabulous Fauré Piano Music Primer
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DzHGkaKWoAA_G3J.jpg) (https://www.classicstoday.com/review/a-fabulous-faure-piano-music-primer/)
[insider content]
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on February 11, 2019, 03:03:37 AM
Quote from: SurprisedByBeauty on February 10, 2019, 11:59:24 PM
I'm in a Fauré kind of mood...


A Fabulous Fauré Piano Music Primer
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DzHGkaKWoAA_G3J.jpg) (https://www.classicstoday.com/review/a-fabulous-faure-piano-music-primer/)
[insider content]

Oh, this is the one with those VERY early pieces.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: SurprisedByBeauty on February 11, 2019, 03:58:04 AM
Quote from: Madiel on February 11, 2019, 03:03:37 AM
Oh, this is the one with those VERY early pieces.

Two, yes. The hitherto unpublished sonata and the Mazurke [sic]. The rest is dotted throughout Faure's life.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Florestan on February 11, 2019, 05:06:21 AM
Quote from: SurprisedByBeauty on February 11, 2019, 03:58:04 AM
the Mazurke [sic].

https://books.google.ro/books?id=732p69PAG74C&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=faure+mazurke&source=bl&ots=-dhOEyAk6k&sig=ACfU3U1Rrcw9SOGPmL4FnDuXYHWY9KQzYg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiwocT-67PgAhWF-ioKHUUxCy0Q6AEwCnoECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=faure%20mazurke&f=false (https://books.google.ro/books?id=732p69PAG74C&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=faure+mazurke&source=bl&ots=-dhOEyAk6k&sig=ACfU3U1Rrcw9SOGPmL4FnDuXYHWY9KQzYg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiwocT-67PgAhWF-ioKHUUxCy0Q6AEwCnoECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=faure%20mazurke&f=false)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on March 03, 2019, 02:29:45 AM
Quote from: Draško on August 31, 2018, 02:15:25 AM
There is a Parisian specialized second hand store that use to be called La Chaumière à Musique, now changed the name to Melomania, that is usually very well stocked with hard to find releases. They don't have it at the moment but you can try emailing them.

https://www.melomania.com/fr/melodies-55973

It took almost 6 months, but this worked.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on March 11, 2019, 07:16:51 PM
Just out of curiosity, what do you guys think of the mélodies series on Hyperion?

(https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571173337.png) (https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571173344.png)

(https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571173351.png) (https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571173368.png)

I'm looking for a more up-to-date series that has better sound than the old EMI set. I see that Malcolm Martineau also has a series on Signum Classics. There's several options here.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on March 11, 2019, 09:28:28 PM
Quote from: Mirror Image on March 11, 2019, 07:16:51 PM
Just out of curiosity, what do you guys think of the mélodies series on Hyperion?

(https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571173337.png) (https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571173344.png)

(https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571173351.png) (https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571173368.png)

I'm looking for a more up-to-date series that has better sound than the old EMI set. I see that Malcolm Martineau also has a series on Signum Classics. There's several options here.

Having actually sampled one of Martineau's Signum volumes just last night, I generally prefer the singers on the Hyperion set. Though there are some good sounding ones on Signum as well, there are also a few I don't personally like as much.

But there's a major qualification to that. Jennifer Smith on Hyperion is quite bad, and unfortunately she gets some major song cycles. I think she's on quite a bit of Volume 4 in particular.

Even with better singers, I'm not sure that Graham Johnson does as well in late Faure as with early and middle works. But then, who does?
My quest for a Jennifer Smith replacement led me to the Veronique Dietschy album that I utterly adore, but that's only 1 disc. For other songs I'm still looking for someone who has mastered the incredibly difficult subtleties of late Faure.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on March 11, 2019, 10:14:42 PM
Quote from: Madiel on March 11, 2019, 09:28:28 PM
Having actually sampled one of Martineau's Signum volumes just last night, I generally prefer the singers on the Hyperion set. Though there are some good sounding ones on Signum as well, there are also a few I don't personally like as much.

But there's a major qualification to that. Jennifer Smith on Hyperion is quite bad, and unfortunately she gets some major song cycles. I think she's on quite a bit of Volume 4 in particular.

Even with better singers, I'm not sure that Graham Johnson does as well in late Faure as with early and middle works. But then, who does?
My quest for a Jennifer Smith replacement led me to the Veronique Dietschy album that I utterly adore, but that's only 1 disc. For other songs I'm still looking for someone who has mastered the incredibly difficult subtleties of late Faure.

Are you familiar with the old EMI set with Ameling and Souzey?
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on March 11, 2019, 11:36:27 PM
Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on March 11, 2019, 10:14:42 PM
Are you familiar with the old EMI set with Ameling and Souzey?

I have sampled it yes. But Mirror Image is specifically looking for things other than the EMI set. And I am not entirely in love with its sound quality or Ameling's vocal tone.

I might revisit it once I identify which opuses I still really want an alternative for. The first time I was looking around, Dietschy enchanted me so utterly in La Chanson d'Eve that I pretty much discarded anyone else from consideration. Ameling was okay, but Dietschy was magnificent.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on March 12, 2019, 06:25:37 AM
Quote from: Madiel on March 11, 2019, 11:36:27 PM
I have sampled it yes. But Mirror Image is specifically looking for things other than the EMI set. And I am not entirely in love with its sound quality or Ameling's vocal tone.

I might revisit it once I identify which opuses I still really want an alternative for. The first time I was looking around, Dietschy enchanted me so utterly in La Chanson d'Eve that I pretty much discarded anyone else from consideration. Ameling was okay, but Dietschy was magnificent.

Fair enough. I have the EMI and Hyperion, but have never found time to listen to them. My favorite Faure is Véronique Gens.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on March 12, 2019, 06:35:05 AM
Quote from: Madiel on March 11, 2019, 09:28:28 PM
Having actually sampled one of Martineau's Signum volumes just last night, I generally prefer the singers on the Hyperion set. Though there are some good sounding ones on Signum as well, there are also a few I don't personally like as much.

But there's a major qualification to that. Jennifer Smith on Hyperion is quite bad, and unfortunately she gets some major song cycles. I think she's on quite a bit of Volume 4 in particular.

Even with better singers, I'm not sure that Graham Johnson does as well in late Faure as with early and middle works. But then, who does?
My quest for a Jennifer Smith replacement led me to the Veronique Dietschy album that I utterly adore, but that's only 1 disc. For other songs I'm still looking for someone who has mastered the incredibly difficult subtleties of late Faure.

Thanks for the feedback, Madiel. Food for thought for sure. I'd buy that Véronique Dietschy album, but I don't feel like breaking the bank. ;)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on March 12, 2019, 06:53:01 AM
Quote from: Mirror Image on March 12, 2019, 06:35:05 AM
Thanks for the feedback, Madiel. Food for thought for sure. I'd buy that Véronique Dietschy album, but I don't feel like breaking the bank. ;)

This is what iTunes or streaming is for. Or putting an alert at Melomania like I did for the next copy that appears.

But seriously, even though I greatly prefer CDs, it's worth using other means of access when it comes to things that just can't viably be bought on CD. Streaming is good for trying things out. iTunes or equivalent for buying the really worthwhile things.

Plus I harassed iTunes into fixing a track listing mistake on that very album. So it's even better now than when I bought it last year.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on March 12, 2019, 06:58:55 AM
Quote from: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on March 12, 2019, 06:25:37 AM
Fair enough. I have the EMI and Hyperion, but have never found time to listen to them. My favorite Faure is Véronique Gens.

I'm aware she has about one-third of an album (listening right now thanks to the wonders of streaming) called Nuit d'etoiles. Is there anything besides that?
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on March 12, 2019, 07:00:06 AM
Quote from: Madiel on March 12, 2019, 06:53:01 AM
This is what iTunes or streaming is for. Or putting an alert at Melomania like I did for the next copy that appears.

But seriously, even though I greatly prefer CDs, it's worth using other means of access when it comes to things that just can't viably be bought on CD. Streaming is good for trying things out. iTunes or equivalent for buying the really worthwhile things.

Plus I harassed iTunes into fixing a track listing mistake on that very album. So it's even better now than when I bought it last year.

Yep, it appears that this is the only to get that Dietschy album. I don't like downloading, but I guess it's one of those 'what choice do I have?' predicaments.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on March 12, 2019, 07:04:37 AM
Quote from: Mirror Image on March 12, 2019, 07:00:06 AM
Yep, it appears that this is the only to get that Dietschy album. I don't like downloading, but I guess it's one of those 'what choice do I have?' predicaments.

Yep. I basically only purchase downloads when it's the only option. Which is pretty rare.

Of course my general purchasing rate is about 5% of yours, so when I say I only buy about 1 download a year, your results may vary.

You can at least sample and see if you like Dietschy, though I seem to remember you were a fan of her Debussy.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on March 12, 2019, 07:18:42 AM
Quote from: Madiel on March 12, 2019, 07:04:37 AM
Yep. I basically only purchase downloads when it's the only option. Which is pretty rare.

Of course my general purchasing rate is about 5% of yours, so when I say I only buy about 1 download a year, your results may vary.

You can at least sample and see if you like Dietschy, though I seem to remember you were a fan of her Debussy.

Will do. Yes, I love Dietschy in Debussy (esp. where Philippe Cassard, who is a fantastic Debussyian, is accompanying her).
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on March 12, 2019, 07:30:28 AM
Quote from: Mirror Image on March 12, 2019, 07:18:42 AM
Will do. Yes, I love Dietschy in Debussy (esp. where Philippe Cassard, who is a fantastic Debussyian, is accompanying her).

It's Cassard on the Faure album as well.

I just listened to the Veronique Gens, and i quite like her voice but to be honest the choice of repertoire is a bit disappointing. Mostly very early songs where it's largely about a pretty melody and there's not a huge amount of depth. Out of 8 songs she really only does 2 that I'd regard as anything deeper.

Then I returned to Dietschy and listened to the op.23 songs. "Le Secret" gave me goosebumps and then tears. I know no one else has to agree with me, but for me this is one of the best classical albums I've ever bought.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on March 12, 2019, 07:38:07 AM
Quote from: Madiel on March 12, 2019, 07:30:28 AM
It's Cassard on the Faure album as well.

I just listened to the Veronique Gens, and i quite like her voice but to be honest the choice of repertoire is a bit disappointing. Mostly very early songs where it's largely about a pretty melody and there's not a huge amount of depth. Out of 8 songs she really only does 2 that I'd regard as anything deeper.

Then I returned to Dietschy and listened to the op.23 songs. "Le Secret" gave me goosebumps and then tears. I know no one else has to agree with me, but for me this is one of the best classical albums I've ever bought.

To be moved by music to the degree you have is nothing short of amazing. The power of music is such an overwhelming force. It does seem that Fauré is a composer you deeply connect with and I'm getting there myself. I have found his music exquisitely gorgeous and continue to be lured into his musical web. It seems I like the later works better than the earlier ones, but that's just because I find it a challenge to unlock a composer's later output, because, in a lot of cases, the music becomes more elusive than before or, at least, this seems to be the case with Fauré, but Debussy as well.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ghost of Baron Scarpia on March 12, 2019, 07:50:10 AM
Quote from: Madiel on March 12, 2019, 06:58:55 AM
I'm aware she has about one-third of an album (listening right now thanks to the wonders of streaming) called Nuit d'etoiles. Is there anything besides that?

That's it. It is my favorite vocal recital album.

Quote from: Madiel on March 12, 2019, 07:30:28 AM
I just listened to the Veronique Gens, and i quite like her voice but to be honest the choice of repertoire is a bit disappointing. Mostly very early songs where it's largely about a pretty melody and there's not a huge amount of depth. Out of 8 songs she really only does 2 that I'd regard as anything deeper.

I wouldn't disagree with the characterization of the repertoire, but I really enjoy her voice and interpretive style (and I rarely find myself enjoying classical singing).
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on December 10, 2019, 01:43:35 AM
Does anyone know of a recording of the opera Prométhée?

I don't know of one. All I'm aware of is a couple of live bits on Youtube from a Brazilian production in 2011...

EDIT: There are appear to be 9 clips on there in total, I don't know that it's enough to add up to a complete performance. (Edit 3: And unfortunately the playing is thoroughly amateur.)

SECOND EDIT: Roger Norrington appears to have done an album with "arias and choruses", but not the full thing.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on December 10, 2019, 02:43:34 AM
There is a complete CD by a conductor named Desire Dondeyne.

Not clear if this is the entire work (recording is about 68 minutes long). But it's clearly more than any other edition!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Faur%C3%A9-Prom%C3%A9th%C3%A9e-Gabriel/dp/B00X9YB25G

EDIT: Another resource suggests this is about the right length for the entire work (surprising given it's said to be in 3 Acts). The next question is, how in hell does one find a copy? And is it worth it?
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on December 10, 2019, 10:15:36 AM
I'm slowly coming around to more of Fauré's orchestral music (I generally prefer his piano music, chamber, and melodies). I can't imagine myself getting too exited about any of his operas, however, I have read good things about Pénélope.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on December 10, 2019, 12:49:05 PM
Yeah I don't know that it would be a highlight either, but it would be nice to be able to hear the music properly. There's no sign of streaming or downloads for Promethee
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on December 10, 2019, 01:01:12 PM
Quote from: Madiel on December 10, 2019, 12:49:05 PM
Yeah I don't know that it would be a highlight either, but it would be nice to be able to hear the music properly. There's no sign of streaming or downloads for Promethee

Yes, this is quite strange but not completely uncommon of course. I'd be nice if someone recorded the work.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: ritter on December 10, 2019, 01:30:27 PM
Cross-posted from the Purchases Today thread:

Quote from: ritter on December 10, 2019, 01:16:06 PM
Most of us know that Fauré's Pelléas et Mélisande was orchestrated by Charles Koechlin. What I didn't know was that Fauré had reduced this beautiful score back to piano solo (well, most of it, one movement having been arranged by Alfred Cortot). It turns out Louis Lortie recorded this solo piano version, and I ordered the CD today.

[asin]B01IQEGCG2[/asin]
The CD also includes other transcriptions (not by Fauré himself) and original piano works, including the Nocturne Nr. 6 (I believe it was Madiel who recently said that this was probably the composer's greatest piano work, and I agree with that  :)).

Quote from: Madiel on December 10, 2019, 02:43:34 AM
There is a complete CD by a conductor named Desire Dondeyne.

Not clear if this is the entire work (recording is about 68 minutes long). But it's clearly more than any other edition!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Faur%C3%A9-Prom%C3%A9th%C3%A9e-Gabriel/dp/B00X9YB25G

EDIT: Another resource suggests this is about the right length for the entire work (surprising given it's said to be in 3 Acts). The next question is, how in hell does one find a copy? And is it worth it?
Me being a fervent admire of Pénélope, I've been after that recording of Promethée for years, but have never located a copy  :(.

Quote from: Mirror Image on December 10, 2019, 10:15:36 AM
I'm slowly coming around to more of Fauré's orchestral music (I generally prefer his piano music, chamber, and melodies). I can't imagine myself getting too exited about any of his operas, however, I have read good things about Pénélope.
John, do give Pénélope I try. A very noble if static and a bit too fin de siècle work, but very beautiful. The Dutoit recording with a breathtaking Jessye Norman  (the only commercial recording, actually) is superb. Pénélope is clearly a precursor of Enesco's Oedipe (IMHO a far superior and multifaceted work, and musically much richer, but still...).
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on December 10, 2019, 03:24:56 PM
Quote from: ritter on December 10, 2019, 01:30:27 PMJohn, do give Pénélope I try. A very noble if static and a bit too fin de siècle work, but very beautiful. The Dutoit recording with a breathtaking Jessye Norman  (the only commercial recording, actually) is superb. Pénélope is clearly a precursor of Enesco's Oedipe (IMHO a far superior and multifaceted work, and musically much richer, but still...).

I'll probably pass, I listened to some of this Dutoit performance and was rather underwhelmed. A Pelléas et Mélisande or L'enfant et les sortilèges it is not.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: ritter on December 14, 2019, 09:22:56 AM
Quote from: Madiel on December 10, 2019, 01:43:35 AM
Does anyone know of a recording of the opera Prométhée?

I don't know of one. All I'm aware of is a couple of live bits on Youtube from a Brazilian production in 2011...

EDIT: There are appear to be 9 clips on there in total, I don't know that it's enough to add up to a complete performance. (Edit 3: And unfortunately the playing is thoroughly amateur.)

SECOND EDIT: Roger Norrington appears to have done an album with "arias and choruses", but not the full thing.
Quote from: Madiel on December 10, 2019, 02:43:34 AM
There is a complete CD by a conductor named Desire Dondeyne.

Not clear if this is the entire work (recording is about 68 minutes long). But it's clearly more than any other edition!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Faur%C3%A9-Prom%C3%A9th%C3%A9e-Gabriel/dp/B00X9YB25G

EDIT: Another resource suggests this is about the right length for the entire work (surprising given it's said to be in 3 Acts). The next question is, how in hell does one find a copy? And is it worth it?
Here's a live recording of the elusive Promethée, also by Desiré Dondeyne, from Toulouse in 1992 (probably a radio broadcast—from what I can see, the cast appears to be the same as that of the CD on the Ariane label, and it may even be the same performance): https://www.premiereopera.net/product/promethee-by-faure-toulouse-1992/.

(https://www.premiereopera.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/faure.promethee.toulouse.1992.jpg)

Premiere Opera Italy specialises in these live recordings (let's call them "semi-private"  ;)). I've used them in the past (for instance, for Reynaldo Hahn's Le marchand de Venise): their releases are no frills (no libretto, and only a cast list and basic details of recording date and location), but are honestly produced. 

EDIT:

Desiré Dondeyne was a French composer and conductor who specialised in wind bands and died in 2015. This (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9sir%C3%A9_Dondeyne?wprov=sfti1) is a Wikipedia article devoted to him. It turns I have some of his recordings in my collection. Of particular interest is this (with a great recording of Florent Schmitt's Dionysiaques and another obscure Fauré work, the Chant funéraire op. 117):

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61zZJbcBphL.jpg)

He also conducts the cantata A Glorious Day in the recent Roussel box, and appears in the Berlioz complete set (both on Erato).
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on December 14, 2019, 12:01:07 PM
Thanks for the information about Premiere Opera Italy, as it confirms what I was thinking about them as I came across that edition of the performance.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on December 26, 2019, 07:19:42 PM
I've been listening to the Hyperion set of the melodies (which I own), and comparing it to the as yet complete (1 volume to go) Signum series.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Q6aHPPZiL._SX466_.jpg) (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/517JA8%2B5JhL._SX466_.jpg)

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71isg8JmWmL._SX466_.jpg) (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81YMYhMMr6L._SX466_.jpg)

It's an interesting exercise because the approach of each is basically the same: one pianist, a collection of singers, keep the song cycles together but other opuses are spread around a bit.

And to me honours are about even. I'm inclined to think the Hyperion set has slightly higher highs, but unfortunately it also has lower lows. Both have some singers I think sound great, and at least one singer who I think sounds bad. For Hyperion, Jennifer Smith stands out as particularly bad and she's given 2 major song cycles to do. On Signum Nigel Cliffe has this really constricted tone, but he's only given a handful of songs to wreck. Everyone else is at least okay, but I think there are slightly more Signum performers who I consider merely 'okay' and not better than that.

Some of the Signum interpretations seem too fast and glib to me (plus one painfully slow one). Whereas on Hyperion, just occasionally it's a bit too staid.

I end up feeling both sets are actually pretty good but not absolutely ideal.

Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on December 26, 2019, 07:22:29 PM
Thanks for the write-up, Madiel. Most informative, indeed.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on December 26, 2019, 07:26:34 PM
Right now I'm trying the first volume of the set Malcolm Martineau did with Sarah Walker (and also Tom Krause on later volumes). The box version looks like this:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/516pvNLqYmL.jpg)

And now I'm a bit torn. I'm not sure that I want a set where one singer dominates to such an extent. And Sarah Walker's voice is, I feel, a touch too dramatic for some of this music.

And yet... there's no denying that her voice is good, and interpretatively  I can't say that she and Martineau have put a foot wrong anywhere in volume 1. She knocks Le jardin clos out of the park, which is one of the things I most want another version of.

Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on December 26, 2019, 07:30:23 PM
Quote from: Mirror Image on December 26, 2019, 07:22:29 PM
Thanks for the write-up, Madiel. Most informative, indeed.

No problem. It made more sense to put my thoughts here rather than in the WAYLTN thread.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Florestan on December 27, 2019, 03:13:34 AM
Madiel, are you familiar with this set? If yes, how would you rate it?

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61B8oSvPwKL._SX355_.jpg)

or the older version

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51iGy-nXWwL._SX355_.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on December 27, 2019, 03:21:44 AM
Quote from: Florestan on December 27, 2019, 03:13:34 AM
Madiel, are you familiar with this set? If yes, how would you rate it?

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61B8oSvPwKL._SX355_.jpg)

or the older version

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51iGy-nXWwL._SX355_.jpg)

I've sampled it at some point, yes. I don't have especially clear memories, other than concluding that Elly Ameling was good without quite being what I was looking for.

But I've no doubt it's at least decent. I understand that for a long time it was pretty much the go-to set.

...you're making me want to go try it now...

EDIT: That set of recordings doesn't seem to be on Deezer. That surprises me. Though much of Ameling's contribution appears on a box of her performances, so that's probably why I particularly remember hearing her.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mandryka on December 29, 2019, 12:49:10 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51oTfvW5INL._SX355_.jpg)

A continuously intense treatment of Fauré, it never relaxes for a second,  I haven't heard the couple of Dukas tracks. Luminous and transparent. The structure of the music is really brought into relief. Her piano sound is diamantine, it's like being showered with diamonds.

I'm not sure about this, but I think she knew him and worked with him on the music. Or am I confusing her with Marguerite Long?
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mandryka on December 29, 2019, 01:18:01 AM
(https://d27t0qkxhe4r68.cloudfront.net/t_900/9788489662575.jpg?1401982577)

Apart from Nocturne 6 this is all pretty early music by Fauré. The piano is recorded slightly closely, which makes it sound a bit hard from time to time (listen to the extraordinary op 38 valse.) Two things struck me most. One was the extreme intensity. And the other was how Sanchez sometimes makes the melody of the music fuse with the accompaniment - I say fuse, not confuse.

Does he make the music sound too episodic? I think he probably does.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: SonicMan46 on February 12, 2020, 07:32:47 PM
Faure's Piano Works - listening to Faure's music the last few days - discovered that I own the 3 'piano' sets shown below (one would be enough for me but which to keep?) - Kathryn Stott from 1994; Jean-Philippe Collard, 1970-83; and Jean Doyen from 1972 (the latter MP3 recordings on a single CD-R - cannot remember where purchased?) - I like Stott the most, BUT the others are certainly well done - SO, preferences from others?  Also, 1994 for Stott is a while ago, any newer 'complete' collections worth exploring?  Thanks for any thoughts.  Dave :)

Kathryn Stott 1994  Jean Doyen 1972  Jean-Philippe Collard 1970-83
(https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571146010.png)  (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61mGZ57r0uL._SL1488_.jpg)  (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41P4CTFt1cL.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mirror Image on February 12, 2020, 08:05:47 PM
Quote from: SonicMan46 on February 12, 2020, 07:32:47 PM
Faure's Piano Works - listening to Faure's music the last few days - discovered that I own the 3 'piano' sets shown below (one would be enough for me but which to keep?) - Kathryn Stott from 1994; Jean-Philippe Collard, 1970-83; and Jean Doyen from 1972 (the latter MP3 recordings on a single CD-R - cannot remember where purchased?) - I like Stott the most, BUT the others are certainly well done - SO, preferences from others?  Also, 1994 for Stott is a while ago, any newer 'complete' collections worth exploring?  Thanks for any thoughts.  Dave :)

Kathryn Stott 1994  Jean Doyen 1972  Jean-Philippe Collard 1970-83
(https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571146010.png)  (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61mGZ57r0uL._SL1488_.jpg)  (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41P4CTFt1cL.jpg)

I haven't heard all of the available recordings of Fauré's piano music, but I haven't really looked around either considering how content and thoroughly impressed I am with Stott's Hyperion set. I have heard, and own, the Collard cycle but don't have favorable impressions of it --- it's a bit too rough for me and Collard isn't a pianist who has exactly made me say "Wow". I think of all the twists and turns that exist in this music, Stott seems to be completely in-tune with this kind of emotional world this music exists in. I'd say keep the Stott for sure.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on February 13, 2020, 01:06:08 AM
The only set I know is Stott.

As to more recent surveys, there is one by Jean-Claude Pennetier (separate volumes), I've no idea if it's any good. I can't find a lot of indications of reviews.

Paul Crossley is the 1980s so not newer. Same with Jean Hubeau and he doesn't seem to have great reviews at a glance. Germaine Thyssens-Valentin is even older than the recordings you've got I think...  and that's about it.

There really isn't a huge amount of activity in this field. In looking to see if I could find evidence of other cycles, I saw a snippet of a review describing Faure's music as amongst the most "subtly daunting" in the piano literature. Which seems about right to me.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: vers la flamme on February 13, 2020, 02:59:38 AM
I have and really like the Jean-Philippe Collard. I think he has a great feel for this music, though he may be a little over-serious at times. I am also really impressed with what I've heard of Jean Hubeau's Fauré. If I were to buy a second set, which I won't, it would be Hubeau on Erato. I was less impressed with what I've heard of Stott, which sounded a little too delicate for my tastes, but I haven't heard much so I'll leave evaluation up to those who know the whole set.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Ratliff on February 13, 2020, 12:01:25 PM
Quote from: SonicMan46 on February 12, 2020, 07:32:47 PM
Faure's Piano Works - listening to Faure's music the last few days - discovered that I own the 3 'piano' sets shown below (one would be enough for me but which to keep?) - Kathryn Stott from 1994; Jean-Philippe Collard, 1970-83; and Jean Doyen from 1972 (the latter MP3 recordings on a single CD-R - cannot remember where purchased?) - I like Stott the most, BUT the others are certainly well done - SO, preferences from others?  Also, 1994 for Stott is a while ago, any newer 'complete' collections worth exploring?  Thanks for any thoughts.  Dave :)

Kathryn Stott 1994  Jean Doyen 1972  Jean-Philippe Collard 1970-83
(https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571146010.png)  (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61mGZ57r0uL._SL1488_.jpg)  (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41P4CTFt1cL.jpg)

I have Stott, Collard (in the earlier EMI releases), Hubeau and Doyen. I also have single discs from Angela Hewitt and Pascal Roge. I've only listened to the Stott and Collard sets in their entirety and like both equally well. One thing that strikes me is that the impression a Faure piece makes on me can vary a lot depending on the performers; there is value in having more than one recording, more so than most composers I think.

Quote from: vers la flamme on February 13, 2020, 02:59:38 AM...I was less impressed with what I've heard of Stott, which sounded a little too delicate for my tastes, but I haven't heard much so I'll leave evaluation up to those who know the whole set.

I seem to have the opposite impression, I like Stott a great deal but sometimes I get the impression that she bulldozes her way through pieces that could benefit from a bit more delicacy. All very subjective, of course.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: staxomega on December 31, 2020, 08:50:06 AM
With 2020 being one of the most unusual years I imagine most (at least younger people) have lived through, the Beethoven 250 and the end of the decade it made me think hard about some year capping music to listen to. And Faure's Requiem came to mind; Giulini's recording in specific, one of my favorite albums of any genre and one of my favorite recordings in classical.

But since it is Beethoven 250 I will probably cap off the very last listening with Alban Berg's forward looking approach to Op. 130/133 from their live recording (far from my favorite performances, but I like it's progressive outlook). Or maybe the last thing will be Jonas Brothers if they're on TV again this year ;D
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mandryka on July 27, 2021, 08:24:23 AM
What do you guys make of this op 121 quartet?

https://www.youtube.com/v/XTIYRZPhkeY&ab_channel=RonErickson

The note says that they're using an edition

Quotebased on Faure's autograph score. Faure did not live to complete the edition of his quartet with execution markings beyond the first few pages of his score. Faure's amanuensis, organist Roger-Ducasse, prepared the Durand edition, adding slurs throughout that obscure the vitality implicit in the original score. In particular, the contrast of expression between the two motifs at the opening of the first movement, implied in the dynamics, can be sharpened by accentuating the forte motif.

In the last movement, the rhythmic energy of articulated bowing suggests reference to the North African and Eurasian traditions in vogue in the early 1920s in France, of which Faure quite possible was aware. The drumming effect of the pizzicato in that movement parallels the conclusion of George Antheil's 2nd Violin Sonata (1924). Faure's guiding inspirations throughout the Quatour include the choral masterworks of the Renaissance and the harmonic ambiguity of the Lydian (augmented) tetrachord, expressed early in his song "Lydia," Op. 4. Our performance tried for the even spacing of the triplet figure of the main theme, but generally fell back on the usual duple rhythm that marrs all other renditions.

Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: amw on July 27, 2021, 02:06:35 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on December 29, 2019, 01:18:01 AM
(https://d27t0qkxhe4r68.cloudfront.net/t_900/9788489662575.jpg?1401982577)

Apart from Nocturne 6 this is all pretty early music by Fauré. The piano is recorded slightly closely, which makes it sound a bit hard from time to time (listen to the extraordinary op 38 valse.) Two things struck me most. One was the extreme intensity. And the other was how Sanchez sometimes makes the melody of the music fuse with the accompaniment - I say fuse, not confuse.

Does he make the music sound too episodic? I think he probably does.
I think it's very good despite the episodic nature; did a blind comparison of Barcarolle 3 for my own purposes a while back and the Sánchez recording ended up very high on the list. (though not my absolute favourite, which remains Damase)

Quote from: Mandryka on July 27, 2021, 08:24:23 AM
What do you guys make of this op 121 quartet?

https://www.youtube.com/v/XTIYRZPhkeY&ab_channel=RonErickson
The edition sounds interesting. I'll wait for a studio recording by a more professionally established ensemble.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mandryka on July 31, 2021, 01:31:53 PM
Quote from: amw on July 27, 2021, 02:06:35 PM
I think it's very good despite the episodic nature; did a blind comparison of Barcarolle 3 for my own purposes a while back and the Sánchez recording ended up very high on the list. (though not my absolute favourite, which remains Damase)
The edition sounds interesting. I'll wait for a studio recording by a more professionally established ensemble.

I'm afraid I don't like Sanchez much, he makes the music sound like all that stuff that Rachmaninov and Cherkassky played - Moszkowski, Schulz- Evler etc. Listening to Damase now and I'm sorry, it looks like Heidsieck is the only Fauré pianist for me.

(And the more I listen and the more I compare, the more I'm impressed by the Cassiopée sound!)

Do you have the Heidsieck barcarolles? I'm sure it's on symphonyshare but if not I can easily let you have it.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: amw on July 31, 2021, 03:18:36 PM
Yes, have and know it as well as the Heidsieck Nocturnes now. The Barcarolles are very good, but I try not to give into obscurity bias or difficulty-to-acquire bias with these things and will eventually try another personal blind comparison with a different barcarolle.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mandryka on August 01, 2021, 12:27:06 AM
One thing I did enjoy on Sanchez's recording is the impromptus - I've never explored that music, I'll have to do something about that.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: aligreto on August 12, 2021, 12:43:57 AM
Fauré: Sonata for Cello & Piano No. 2:

This composition is a somewhat curious juxtaposition of both the robust and the poignant. There is certainly no lack of musical ideas and the work sounds fresh and buoyant in the outer movements with, perhaps understandably and given ill health, that later life contemplation of mortality in the atmospheric and elegiac central slow movement. The cello sings along throughout the work but, for me, the attraction for me is in the writing for the piano lines. It is ebullient in the outer movements. The music is always lyrical and very engaging.
The music of the first movement is propelled along by the constant drive of the piano lines. The tone of the music of the cello voice in the opening movement is contemplative and meditative, if not quite melancholy.
The intensity of tone in the slow movement is wonderful. I find the steady accompaniment of the piano to be reminiscent of a funeral march, which, of course in its original conception and iteration, it was.
The tone of the final movement is quite upbeat, ebullient and optimistic. Once again, I find that the piano lines dictate and determine the energy and drive of the music; it is its powerhouse.
The final movement is always energetic, sometimes exuberant and it concludes with terrific drive and excitement, particularly those flurries in the piano line.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: aligreto on August 12, 2021, 12:45:02 AM
Faure: Sonata for Cello & Piano No. 2 [Igloi/Benson]


(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/W7AAAOSw4tVeNfra/s-l1600.jpg)


Benson's playing is sparkling in the first movement. I am not a fan of the playing of the cello line here by Igloi. I find it somewhat lacking in emotion and fluidity and lacking the requisite presence, perhaps. It does not help that the cello sounds very dry in this recording, particularly in the higher register notes; an issue that I do not perceive with the piano. These aspects of the recording are particularly noticeable in the slow movement where the voice of the cello is more prominent. The piano lines in the final movement dictate everything and, once again, Benson excels.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: aligreto on August 12, 2021, 12:46:05 AM
Faure: Sonata for Cello & Piano No. 2 [P. Tortellier/Heidsieck]


(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/r6HnodLrEJ7NI5coXfHThEgEtqKy8etRP5tTX0eZ4BkXL-074Iq7NQRvlh0s_2GBPl9h1fnWt8qKSdB620ppYAGZLqgdgDrzaumZfHlttI8CrHbNK2hrh6eoja8)


The first thing that I notice, comparatively, is the vivid presence of the cellist Tortellier. His efforts in this recording are superior to that of Igloi, to my ear. Tortellier's presence is very apparent from the outset and equal with that of the pianist. The cello playing is ardent, assertive and intense. The slow movement is not lacking in emotional delivery; the performance is engaging but not, however, compelling. Once again, I am not fully satisfied with the recorded sound of the cello. It sounds dry to my ears. Heidsieck does more than very well on the piano but Benson has set the interpretative benchmark for me and it is not surpassed here despite a very good performance by Heidsieck. Heidsieck's performance in the final movement is superlative, however. It is buoyant and assertive.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: aligreto on August 12, 2021, 12:48:14 AM
Faure: Sonata for Cello & Piano No. 2 [Isserlis/Devoyon]


(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71eidSe6jIL._SX355_.jpg)


The first thing that I notice, comparatively, is how lyrical this presentation of the first movement is by both musicians and yet also how intense it is at the same time. There is a wonderful underlying tension throughout the movement. This is created by the dichotomy of the free flowing, somewhat upbeat tone of the piano line under that intense cello line. The slow movement is an ardent performance; it smoulders with a quiet intensity and  plaintiveness. It is never overly melancholy but rather poignant and profound with the added edge of that intensity. Devoyon's pianism is often very subtle and understated but is always very present in the recording. This is a truly a wonderful interpretation and presentation. There is a wonderful conversation going on between the instrumentalists in the final movement; a real earnest discussion in places. It is very exciting and engaging.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: aligreto on August 12, 2021, 12:49:04 AM
Faure: Sonata for Cello & Piano No. 2 [Bruns/Ishay]


(https://img.discogs.com/UcKsJdRzbqqsY8_IYFGTx0B4Z3U=/fit-in/600x596/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-7234274-1436785279-1527.jpeg.jpg)


From the opening notes this presentation sounds different, comparatively speaking. It is a bit of a jolt but in a good way, for me. It is so because it is played on two period instruments. The piano is an Érard, a favoured instrument by Faure apparently. That will no doubt mean something to those with a greater ear than mine [but I must say that it does sound wonderful]. The sonorities and presentation of both instruments sound very different to what has gone before in this comparison. The wonderful slow movement is where these two instruments really shine and come into their own and they are wonderfully balanced in a very natural sounding recording. It is a very attractive performance. The final movement is a very exciting performance and both instrumentalists contribute to this sense of adventure. It is a fitting conclusion to a compelling performance. In the notes the performers draw attention to Fauré's insistence on rhythmic playing with minimal rubato which they adhere to, particularly on the piano. This lends a different and interesting perspective to the phrasing of the music which, in turn, gives a different and interesting flavour to this interesting and exciting presentation. 
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on August 12, 2021, 03:43:11 AM
I don't think I've ever done comparative listening to that degree. I have Tortelier/Heidsieck but I don't love those performances... I think I have a problem with Heidsieck, though if you look back somewhere on this forum you'll find where I initially thought it was Tortelier!

Anyway, like my other Faure chamber music I ended up with the Hyperion label:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61G1q-vfxrL._SX425_.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: North Star on August 12, 2021, 07:08:42 AM
Ophélia Gaillard's recording of the cello works is wonderful, finding a physical copy might be difficult.
https://www.youtube.com/v/v=_zZkGsdrfDY&list=OLAK5uy_lbH4q9W8ZrC213s0PeUNm0uC0B-5h_smg
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: vers la flamme on August 12, 2021, 01:12:52 PM
I have Tortelier/Hubeau as a cheap Apex reissue, also featuring the Debussy Cello Sonata. Love that disc. That Hyperion one looks nice though; that label has done a great job with Fauré.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Spotted Horses on August 12, 2021, 06:07:51 PM
Quote from: aligreto on August 12, 2021, 12:49:04 AM
Faure: Sonata for Cello & Piano No. 2 [Bruns/Ishay]


(https://img.discogs.com/UcKsJdRzbqqsY8_IYFGTx0B4Z3U=/fit-in/600x596/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-7234274-1436785279-1527.jpeg.jpg)


From the opening notes this presentation sounds different, comparatively speaking. It is a bit of a jolt but in a good way, for me. It is so because it is played on two period instruments. The piano is an Érard, a favoured instrument by Faure apparently. That will no doubt mean something to those with a greater ear than mine [but I must say that it does sound wonderful]. The sonorities and presentation of both instruments sound very different to what has gone before in this comparison. The wonderful slow movement is where these two instruments really shine and come into their own and they are wonderfully balanced in a very natural sounding recording. It is a very attractive performance. The final movement is a very exciting performance and both instrumentalists contribute to this sense of adventure. It is a fitting conclusion to a compelling performance. In the notes the performers draw attention to Fauré's insistence on rhythmic playing with minimal rubato which they adhere to, particularly on the piano. This lends a different and interesting perspective to the phrasing of the music which, in turn, gives a different and interesting flavour to this interesting and exciting presentation.

This is really an exquisite disk, beautifully performed and the period instruments give the music a refreshing sound (and probably contribute to the difference in interpretation).

Another version I have recently enjoyed (more than Tortelier) was the Lodeon/Collard on EMI. (I found two mentions of the Tortelier/Heidsieck in my listening notes. It seems I only liked it the second time around.)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Que on August 13, 2021, 12:47:11 AM
Quote from: North Star on August 12, 2021, 07:08:42 AM
Ophélia Gaillard's recording of the cello works is wonderful, finding a physical copy might be difficult.
https://www.youtube.com/v/v=_zZkGsdrfDY&list=OLAK5uy_lbH4q9W8ZrC213s0PeUNm0uC0B-5h_smg

I am also very impressed by that one!  :) The best on modern instruments I've heard sofar. Gaillard is matched by a great pianist.

I need to check out the Bruns/Ishay, because I was definitely not so much impressed by the - to my knowledge - only other performance on period instruments:

(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiNzk1NzgzNC4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTAwfSwianBlZyI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0IjoianBlZyJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE2MjM5Mjc0Njl9)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: SonicMan46 on April 02, 2022, 08:05:45 AM
Faure has appeared for today's selective listening to my collection - have a single disc of his orchestral works w/ Tortelier & the BBC PO - not great and a mediocre review in Fanfare - any other possibly 2-disc options?  Now, I already have 2 versions of the Requiem, so don't need another, plus no songs please.

As to the Cello Sonatas, I've been adding and culling for years and the two shown are fine w/ me; the Bruns/Ishay recording has been in my collection for decades and in contrast to many other performances, Bruns uses 'gut strings' on his cello and Ishay plays a period Érard piano.  Dave :)

(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ZyJYRbThL.jpg)  (https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81oeBrm8zvL._SL1050_.jpg)  (https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51hKE1jxRDL._SY355_.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: SonicMan46 on April 02, 2022, 10:39:02 AM
Continuing and comparing the Piano Quartets & Quintets, some of my favorite Faure - own 2 versions of each and must say listening, all are excellent - don't believe I need to add more (and no culling this time!) - reviews attached for those interested and have not acquired these works.  Dave :)

(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71Rp8neiWXL._SL1200_.jpg)  (https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91XgBD+P79L._SS500_.jpg)  (https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61MSsjXHIwL._SL1200_.jpg)  (https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61fzMuKDG0L._SL1000_.jpg)

Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: VonStupp on April 02, 2022, 11:23:16 AM
Quote from: SonicMan46 on April 02, 2022, 08:05:45 AM
Faure has appeared for today's selective listening to my collection - have a single disc of his orchestral works w/ Tortelier & the BBC PO - not great and a mediocre review in Fanfare - any other possibly 2-disc options?  Now, I already have 2 versions of the Requiem, so don't need another, plus no songs please.

Dave, For my money, Ozawa's single disc recording of Fauré's orchestral music is easily in my top 5 from that conductor. But, I also think Fauré's orchestral music is absolutely beautiful too.

More comprehensively though, Plasson on EMI has a lot of his orchestral and concertante music all bundled together on an EMI Gemini series.

But that is with my money!  ;D

VS

(https://images.universal-music.de/img/assets/101/101662/4/720/faure-pellas-et-mlisande-0028942308921.jpg) (https://img.cdandlp.com/2018/04/imgL/119143807-2.jpg)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on April 02, 2022, 11:58:30 AM
Interesting that you have the Domus quartets but not the Domus quintets, which I would argue are even finer.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: SonicMan46 on April 02, 2022, 01:31:39 PM
Quote from: VonStupp on April 02, 2022, 11:23:16 AM
Dave, For my money, Ozawa's single disc recording of Fauré's orchestral music is easily in my top 5 from that conductor. But, I also think Fauré's orchestral music is absolutely beautiful too.

More comprehensively though, Plasson on EMI has a lot of his orchestral and concertante music all bundled together on an EMI Gemini series.

But that is with my money!  ;D

VS

(https://images.universal-music.de/img/assets/101/101662/4/720/faure-pellas-et-mlisande-0028942308921.jpg) (https://img.cdandlp.com/2018/04/imgL/119143807-2.jpg)

Thanks VS - just ordered a used copy of the Plasson 2-disc EMI set from Amazon, some overlap but I read better reviews of the performances vs. the single disc w/ Tortelier, but will likely keep for a handful of pieces including the Dolly Suite.  Dave :)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: SonicMan46 on April 02, 2022, 01:35:43 PM
Quote from: Madiel on April 02, 2022, 11:58:30 AM
Interesting that you have the Domus quartets but not the Domus quintets, which I would argue are even finer.

Well, I've heard the Domus in the Quintets and would be happy w/ them, but the two that I own seem to favor my ears more -  8)  So, just a matter of minor differences in taste, I guess - any of those performances should please, and there are plenty of others of both the quartets and quintets.  Thanks for responding.  Dave :)
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Herman on April 03, 2022, 01:17:23 AM
Quote from: SonicMan46 on April 02, 2022, 08:05:45 AM
Faure has appeared for today's selective listening to my collection - have a single disc of his orchestral works w/ Tortelier & the BBC PO - not great and a mediocre review in Fanfare - any other possibly 2-disc options?  Now, I already have 2 versions of the Requiem, so don't need another, plus no songs please.

As to the Cello Sonatas, I've been adding and culling for years and the two shown are fine w/ me; the Bruns/Ishay recording has been in my collection for decades and in contrast to many other performances, Bruns uses 'gut strings' on his cello and Ishay plays a period Érard piano.  Dave :)


If you're into Fauré's chamber music, you probably have some versions of his two final works, the Piano Trio, op 120, and the String Quartet, Op 121. These two works are IMO Fauré's nec plus ultra.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: SonicMan46 on April 03, 2022, 07:01:02 AM
Quote from: Herman on April 03, 2022, 01:17:23 AM
If you're into Fauré's chamber music, you probably have some versions of his two final works, the Piano Trio, op 120, and the String Quartet, Op 121. These two works are IMO Fauré's nec plus ultra.

Hi Herman - I own 2 or 3 versions of each of those works since often combined w/ other desirables, like Faure/Debussy/Ravel in the String Quartets - thanks!  8)  Dave
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: 71 dB on April 03, 2022, 07:28:40 AM
My Fauré CD collection:

Nocturnes Nos. 1-6 + Theme and Variations, Op 73 - Jean Martin - Naxos 8.550794
Nocturnes Nos. 7-13 + Préludes + Romances - Jean Martin - Naxos 8.550795
Barcarolles + Ballade, Op.19 - Pierre-Alain Volondat - Naxos 8.553634
Préludes, Op. 103 + Impromptus - Pierre-Alain Volondat Naxos - 8.553740
Pelléas et Mélisande + Valses-caprices + Mazurka + Pavane - Pierre-Alain Volondat - Naxos 8.553741
Four Hand Piano Music - Pierre-Alain Volondat & Patrick De Hooge - Naxos 8.553638
Requiem + Messe basse + Cantique de Jean Racine - Jeremy Summerly - Naxos 8.550765
Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2 + Berceuse + Romance + Andante - Dong-Suk Kang & Pascal Devoyon - Naxos 8.550906
Masques et Bergamasques + Dolly Suite + Shylock + Pelléas et Melisande + Berceuse - John Georgiadis - Naxos 8.553360
String Quartet, Op. 121 - Ad Libitum Quartet - Naxos 8.554722
Une Châtelaine en sa Tour, Op. 110 + Impromptu, Op. 86 - Judy Loman - Naxos 8.554561
Sicilienne, Op. 78 + Berceuse, Op. 16 - Nora Shulman & Judy Loman - Naxos 8.554166
Requiem - Philippe Herreweghe - HMC 901771
Violin Concerto + Berceuse + Elegie + etc. - Enrique Batiz - CD DCA 686
Piano Quintets 1 & 2 - Peter Orth & Auryn Quartett - CPO 999 357-2
Piano Quartets 1 & 2 - Trio Wanderer & Antoine Tamestit - HMC 902032
Piano Quintets 1 & 2 + Piano Quartets 1 & 2 - Pascal Rogé & Quatuor Ysaÿe - Decca 475 187-2
Musique de chambre I + II [3+2 CDs] - various artists - EMI 0946 336126 2 4
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mandryka on December 11, 2022, 12:54:00 AM
Did Verdi really steal Fauré's Dies Irae?

https://www.camerondodds.com/dies-irae
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Madiel on December 11, 2022, 01:36:14 PM
Sounds utterly delusional.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Florestan on December 12, 2022, 05:32:44 AM
Quote from: Madiel on December 11, 2022, 01:36:14 PMSounds utterly delusional.

Wait! Mysterious Requiems, secret codes hidden in a keyboard, manuscripts buried in the fields, evil composers --- that's a Dan Brown novel, actually (it even has his trademark historical ignorance: the first performance of Verdi's Requiem actually took place in 1874, not in 1869). ;D
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Mandryka on May 19, 2023, 12:46:39 AM
(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiODc4MzM1Ni4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InRvRm9ybWF0IjoianBlZyJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE1ODc5ODYxMzB9)

I wonder if you'd enjoy this @Herman -  it's spiders webs and rainbows.
Title: Re: Gabriel Fauré (Faure)
Post by: Karl Henning on July 10, 2023, 07:34:19 AM
Giorgio reviews Marc-André Hamelin's Fauré (https://www.earrelevant.net/2023/07/marc-andre-hamelin-breathes-fresh-air-into-faures-piano-music/)