Luisa Imorde L'AFFAIRE D'HONNEUR

Vienna, winter of 1798. Two titans of the musical world encountered each other in a one of a kind duel. A musical trial of strength in front of a select audience, the objective of which was to choose the winner by the intensity of the applause. The suitable stage for this exclusive event was provided by the friend and benefactor of Mozart, Baron Raimund Wetzlar zu Plankenstern. His palais may today, still be visited close to the gardens of Schönbrunn castle.

At just 28 years old, Ludwig van Beethoven was already well known as a virtuoso of the piano forte and master of improvisation. He had originally come to the glittering capital of music, Vienna, from his hometown Bonn, in order to study with famous composer Joseph Haydn. Beethoven's opponent, 25 year old Johann Joseph Baptist Woelfl from Salzburg, was a student of Leopold Mozart and no less successful in the local musical scene.

Both of them had made their first successful appearances at the age of only seven years and competed to win the favour of the Viennese public. The virtuous battle seems to have resulted in a draw. Contemporary witness, Knight Ignaz von Seyfried, reported that in the end the decision had to remain open, who could possibly have choosen which of the two combatants deserved the palm of victory?

Exceptionally gifted pianist Luisa Imorde reawakens the spirit of this historic battle between the two musical geniuses on her new album "L'Affaire d'honneur". Like Beethoven, Imorde made her first musical steps in the surroundings of Bonn. By the age of seven, she had already performed on stage time and again. Now she has made Salzburg the center of her work and life, like originally Mozart and Woelfl. Her first recording named "Zirkustänze" found high appraisal by the musical press and the public alike. Now she presents her second album.

Mrs. Imorde contrasts the variations of Woelfl and Beethoven over the same musical theme by Salieri "La stessa, la stessissima", they open and finish this recording. In addition to that, Mozart's visionary Adagio and Fugue for two pianos, pave the way to the future. Jacques Rouvier, former teacher of Luisa Imorde at the University of Music Mozarteum, Salzburg, plays the second piano.  Then follows Beethoven with his famous "Pathétique". Contrasting to that, Woelfl, who in fact was a great admirer of Beethoven, takes over form and material of the "Pathétique" and tries to even surpass it in his Sonata in C minor.

David Fray BACH Concertos for 2, 3 & 4 Pianos

This is a musical family affair,” says David Fray of this collection of Bach’s concertos for two, three and four keyboards. The ‘family’ connection is that Fray, like Audrey Vigoureux and Emmanuel Christien, is a former pupil of Jacques Rouvier, celebrated both as a soloist and as a teacher at the Paris Conservatoire. All four pianists participate and collaborate on this album, which contains Bach’s entire canon of concertos for multiple keyboard soloists, with the exception of the Triple Concerto in C major.

David Fray’s Erato catalogue already includes a number of solo works and concertos by Bach, and Jacques Rouvier joined him for duets on his Schubert album Fantasie. Discussing his Bach, BBC Music Magazine wrote: “Fray's touch is exactly nuanced, its technical control aristocratically poised, producing sonorities of irresistibly pellucid light and shade. And his rhythmic vitality is acute.” Fray himself has spoken of Bach as “a pinnacle; both a beginning and an end”.

This recording – made in Toulouse’s beautiful and resonant Carmelite Chapel, built in the 18th century – has its origins in a concert that the four pianists gave in Montpellier in 2013, but here the string ensemble comes from the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse.

“These concertos are a joy for both the players and the listener,” says David Fray. “They take their lead from the dance, and there is an Italian quality in their flexibility of line.” During his time in Weimar, Bach became fascinated by Italian string concertos and the Concerto for Four Keyboards is an adaptation of a concerto for four violins from Vivaldi’s famous collection L’estro armonico. “These concertos have an exceptional impact, energy and ‘bounce’ that can be hard to capture on the modern piano,” continues Fray. “The challenge is to take all the fat out of the sound – especially when you have several pianos playing together – and to capture that dancing Italian spirit with the help of lively articulation and an understanding of the polyphony.” 

Speaking of the Concerto for Four Keyboards, he says: “It is vital to achieve the right balance and to create a single sound, not four separate sounds. As pupils of Jacques Rouvier, we were always encouraged to have a distinct personality, but here, while retaining our individuality, we must find a zone where we can all come together … Four sounds that make sense as one sound.

“This album is not about looking to create ‘something new’. As a musician, you carry your vision with you, and with your sound you seek to generate momentum and movement. It’s for the audience to decide if you have produced something new and interesting.”