Catalogue

Summary:

“Fauré’s piano music is at last emerging in its full measure of energy and brilliance. Charles Owen buys enthusiastically into this truer picture of the music…On the technical front Owen is absolutely secure, with fine observation of the music’s often multiple layering” ★★★★ – BBC Music Magazine

“Owen is the least insistent or interventionalist of pianists. He never invests the music with undue weight or significance. His performances glide gracefully, often in near strict tempo on their own momentum, quite without distortion or idiosyncrasy” – Gramophone

“Owen gives beautifully measured accounts of these charming works, enjoying the lavishness of the writing but carefully teasing out the all-important melodies with a silver spoon. He makes enterprising use of the pedals, and the colour evinced in Nos. 1, 3 and 6 are particularly charismatic” – International Record Review

“These are the urbane descendants of Chopin’s pianistic brilliants, gentlemanly and understated. Charles Owen’s beautifully judged and articulated performance deftly reveals the intricacy of Fauré’s craft without loss of line, from the seemingly carefree balletic shimmer of the 1885 G flat major to the darker harmonies of the 1915 E flat major” – The Independent on Sunday

Pianist Charles Owen follows a critically acclaimed release of Fauré’s popular Nocturnes (AV2133) with a relative rarity – a complete survey of the composer’s Barcarolles uniquely coupled with Trois Romances sans paroles, Fauré’s first published works for piano. The Barcarolles straddle the turn of the 20th century and span a four-decade period, from 1880–1921. The works’ dedicatees were a veritable roll call of Parisian musical elite. Though written and published separately, they hang together well through their combination of mystery, humanity and inner poetry. Yet it is a rare pianist who plays all thirteen, a bill that Charles Owen lives up to brilliantly.

Tracklist:

GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845–1924)

The Complete Barcarolles
1. No.1, Op. 26 in A minor – Allegretto moderato (4:56)
2. No. 2, Op. 41 in G major – Allegretto quasi Allegro (6:32)
3. No. 3, Op. 42 in G flat major – Andante, quasi Allegretto (7:14)
4. No. 4, Op.44 in A flat major – Allegretto (3:23)
5. No. 5, Op. 66 in F sharp minor – Allegretto moderato (5:21)
6. No. 6, Op. 70 in E flat major – Allegretto vivo (3:22)
7. No. 7, Op. 90 in D minor – Allegretto moderato (2:56)
8. No. 8, Op. 96 in D flat major – Allegretto moderato (3:16)
9. No. 9, Op. 101 in A minor – Andante moderato (4:05)
10. No. 10, Op. 104/2 in A minor – Allegretto moderato (3:01)
11. No. 11, Op. 105 in G minor – Allegretto moderato (4:33)
12. No. 12, Op. 106 bis in E flat major – Allegretto giocoso (2:58)
13. No. 13, Op. 116 in C major – Allegretto (3:51)

Trois Romances sans paroles, Op. 17
14. No. 1 in A flat major – Andante, quasi allegretto (1:51)
15. No. 2 in A minor – Allegro molto (2:17)
16. No. 3 in A flat major – Andante moderato (2:41)

Total duration: 63:20

Recorded July 5, 6 & 7 2010 at the Wyastone Concert Hall, Monmouthshire
Recording Producer: Andrew Keener
Balance Engineer: Simon Eadon
Editing: Bill Sykes