Auteur : Guilhem Chameyrat
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Yunchan Lim at the Philharmonie de Paris, the committed ascent of the Goldberg Variations
When Yunchan Lim walks through the backstage door, he strides towards the piano, surrounded by a bluish halo. Waiting for the audience to fall completely silent, the young prodigy enters into the intimacy of …round and velvety-smooth blend… composed by his compatriot Hanurij Lee. The balance is perfect, the bass extremely powerful, everything resonates in…
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Celibidache conducts Bruckner in Munich: two previously unreleased live recordings
The Münchner Philharmoniker label recently released two Brucknerian recordings by maestro Sergiu Celibidache. As is well known, the osmosis born in 1979 from the Romanian conductor’s encounter with what was to become ‘his’ orchestra, the one through which he would finally be able to implement his precepts and aesthetic conceptions, saw the emergence of an…
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Furtwängler conducts Brahms, on December 12th, 1943
A few months ago, in November, I realised a video study for the Wilhelm Furtwängler Society on Furtwangler’s relationship with the music of Brahms. The Society then asked me to write the booklet (originally in French, translated into English by Susannah Howe) for an extraordinary product: the concert of 12 December 1943, magnificently restored by…
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Two theoretical approaches (and a number of problems)
Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin, Les Attributs de la musique (1765), Paris, Musée du Louvre Table of content Introduction Theoretical errors and the (attempted) historical situation of these approaches About the composition itslef Perception is primarily sensible: the contingent nature of interpretation (and the dangers of a dogmatic approach) When an interpreter takes an interest in…
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50 versions of Schumann’s Fantasy
Schumann’s Fantasy is a work truly apart in the composer’s oeuvre. It is perhaps the least illustrative and the least programmatic of the composer’s works, but the most contemplative as well as the most passionate. Composed in two distinct phases – first the first movement, to be played with intensity and passion, composed for Clara,…
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My favorite 2024 recordings
What records will you remember from 2024? Which ones made a particular impression on me, and which ones will go down in history? Here’s a brief overview of the recording year that’s just gone by, backed up by reviews and personal opinions – all subjective, of course! Let’s start with the new pianistic releases. Maurizio…
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No fear of the dark: what we, classical music listeners, have in common with heavy metal (and what heavy metal owes to classical music)
The German sociologist Harmut Rosa, director of the Max-Weber-Kolleg in Erfurt, heir to the prestigious and renowned Frankfurt School – where, at the instigation of Horkheimer and Adorno, critical theory was born, a method aimed at including the discoveries and advances of sociology in contemporary philosophy – recently published No fear of the dark, subtitled…
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Furtwangler conducts Brahms
The original podcast (narration in French, English and German subtitles) A little over a year ago, in June 2023, I took part in a series of short programmes on the Wilhelm Furtwangler Society’s YouTube channel called ‘The recording that made an impression on me’. I chose to present the legendary recording of Brahms’s 3rd Symphony,…
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Blind listening to Brahms’ first Piano Concerto
When preparing a blind listening session, there is always the question of which versions to choose. In the case of Brahms’s First Piano Concerto, there is no shortage of versions. I have chosen not to select the really old versions, recorded on 78 rpm. It’s not that they don’t have a place in the selection…
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Chopin by Guiomar Novaes
Guiomar Novaes (1895-1972) was an incarnation of the most absolute Romantic pianism, between possession and tenderness, caught up in emotional tensions that were at once incandescent and uncertain, at once fragile and determined. While Novaes’ discographic legacy is – unfairly and far too meagre – it remains an important sum devoted to the music of…
Sofronichrist 