Classica

Though Turner has already been recorded by Louis de Froment (Phoenix) and the concerto 103 regards dans l’eau by Patrice Fontanarosa under the baton of the composer (Cybelia), these records are no longer available in the catalog. We will therefore enthusiastically welcome this new release. Anthony Korf reminds us in the liner notes of the Romanian childhood of Marius Constant before his eventual settling in Paris. The conductor (and creator of the Ars Nova ensemble) wanted to be the promoter of the music of his time; however the composer himself was set against the serial avant-garde, as evidenced by these three refined scores, which are in very French style: Turner shows him as a master manipulator of the timbres, the different combinations of which resonate with a painter’s palette. Following an extraordinary ever-changing soundscape, the most dissonant masses of sound gradually disintegrate, letting a flute solo suddenly pierce through the rustling grayness of the strings.

Brevissima evokes Dutilleux’s Métaboles in the desire to merge different movements into a brief form, but Constant has a lyricism very much of his own, undoubtedly more noticeable in 103 regards dans l’eau. Never drowned out by a Riverside Symphony diligently conducted by George Rothman, Olivier Charlier’s violin illuminates this multicoloured bazaar of motifs, endlessly revived by an invisible lifeforce. (FIVE STARS AWARDED)

—Jeremie Bigorie