Casino Belle Epoque
Verany-Arion/Abeille musique
PV 796044
1996
The Concert Impromptu and the Belle Epoque
The Concert Impromptu have dug up a few treasures of the late 19th century French music in the collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale (nationale library). These pieces of the turn of the century evoke the atmospheres of the Casino de Vichy lounges or the train Bleu restaurant of the gare de Lyon. Filled with colonial refinement and exoticism, the program takes us through the typically Belle Epoque musical themes : Aubade, passacaille, Pastorale or Menuet…
Academism and good taste
The common point in these music is a certain idea of good taste which was fashionable at that time : no revolution in the harmony or audacity in the instrumentation but refinement and delicacy and a hint of sentimentality. The themes and aesthetic are also found in the architecture of the late 19th century : the attraction for the oriental and Mediterranean exotism, the "neo" neomedieval, neoclassical…
The composers :
Charles LEFEBVRE (1843-1917)
Student of Ambroise Thomas. Prix de Rome in 1870, composer of numerous opras and ballets.
Hedwige CHRÉTIEN (1859-1944)
One of the rare female composers of the period. She is distinguished by her taste for intimate pieces in which the wind instruments are privileged and for melodies for voice and piano which contributed to her reputation in England and America.
Emile PESSARD (1843-1917)
Grand Prix de Rome and harmonic professor at the Conservatoire de paris where he taught Maurice ravel.
Adolphe DESLANDRES (1840-?)
Organist, was known for his compositions for the organ, his vocal music and his religiously inspired instrumental music.
Gabriel PIERNÉ (1863-1937)
Prix de rome, he is one of the most famous. His pastoral opus 14, n°1, one of his pieces from his youth reveals the influence of his master Jules Massenet.
Blas-Maria COLOMER (1842-?)
Student with Massenet at the Conservatoire de Paris. He was a French naturalized Catalan, first of a great lineage of musicians up to his grandson today who leads a career as conductor.
Adrien BARTHE (1828-1898)
Grand prix de Rome before becoming a harmonic professor at the Conservatoire de Paris in a female class.
« …musicians who rival with ease and clearness. Philippe Leroux's music is as clear as mountain water with freshness and fluidity and hints of humour and casualness. A truly living music that hides a punctilious perfection, opened to all the adventures of true fantasy. A cheerful, inventive art with a nervous expressiveness… A joyful music."
- Diapason, 1999
"Des musiques fraîches et joyeuses qui, sous un faux air potache, relèvent d'une esthétique maîtrisée."
- Libération, 1999
« …The style, however contemporary, has a powerful originality…Philippe Leroux is unclassifiable…Each of his works guarantees a permanent excitement for the senses and the spirit through a highly playful journey…Souffles progressively slides towards disturbing grounds that the Concet Impromptu evokes in an aptly dramatical manner. More elliptical then the others, this remarkably written piece is however no less homogeneous. Each sequence appears as much as the beginning and the conclusion of a founder process of expression"
- Le Monde, 1999