Claire Chevallier – Liszt_Fever, Claire Chevallier_piano Erard 1876 (2011) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Claire Chevallier – Liszt_Fever, Claire Chevallier_piano Erard 1876 (2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:12:07 minutes | 1,19 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © La Dolce Volta

« FEVER » is a powerful, impassioned portrait raised to sublimity by the magical sound of Claire Chevallier’s Erard. A great collector of pianos, she lives surrounded by them; they are part of her daily world. It was after buying an 1876 Erard, Liszt’s favourite piano, that she felt the presence of the great composer behind its very characteristic sound and found she wanted to make this recording.
It seemed self-evident to me that I had to put together a varied program for this recording. Wiegenlied and Mephisto-Walzer no.1 are both by the same musician, the same virtuoso. But to tackle these multiple facets within a single time frame (a recording, a concert) demands a certain type of schizophrenia, a multiplying of the body in terms of effort.

Liszt meets the historical-movement in this recording by French pianist Claire Chevallier, owner of an 1876 Erard piano that, if not exactly like the one Liszt himself owned, would certainly have been similar to others that were part of his world. Despite preposterous graphics featuring light yellow type of various sizes on a white background, with Chevallier trying to convince you that playing Liszt caused her to run a 100-degree fever, and that this was desirable, the instrument itself is worth hearing. Its chief differences from a modern instrument are threefold. First, in quieter passages with the pedals in use, there’s a lot more mud in the sound, and this is not in the least a bad thing. Chevallier saves the best for last: the Wiegenlied (Lullaby, track 7) has an extraordinary texture in which the individual struck notes seem to blend seamlessly into a partly unpitched background. Second, the instrument has a good deal less power than a modern grand, and Chevallier is not a powerful pianist. Third, however, its upper register is unusually clear and ringing. In a work like the Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (track 2) the individual lines of the music emerge clearly from all the technical fireworks, adding to the cumulative effect. Chevallier’s program is artfully selected to put the piano through all its possible paces, and the huge contrasts involved somehow seem as though they would have appealed to Liszt himself. This does not rewrite the book on Liszt, but it’s an intriguing listen, especially in the several slower works. –James Manheim

Tracklist:
01. Claire Chevallier – Andante lagrimoso (08:53)
02. Claire Chevallier – Mephisto-Walzer no1 (12:27)
03. Claire Chevallier – La lugubre gondola no2 (10:19)
04. Claire Chevallier – Saint-François d’Assise, La Prédication aux oiseaux (11:28)
05. Claire Chevallier – Saint-François de Paule marchant sur les flots (10:20)
06. Claire Chevallier – Funérailles (14:06)
07. Claire Chevallier – Wiegenlied (04:32)

Personnel:
Claire Chevallier, piano (Érard, Paris, 1876, 7 octaves, sustain pedal, una corda, concert grand)

Download:

https://hexload.com/22fl7wiqthtj/LisztFeverClaireChevallierpian0rard187620119624.part1.rar
https://hexload.com/ua4tc1o4k2j4/LisztFeverClaireChevallierpian0rard187620119624.part2.rar

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