Louise Farrenc (1804-1875)
Complete Piano Works Vol 3
Rondeaux
Contents listed after review
Maria Stratigou (piano)
rec. 2023, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester
Grand Piano GP942 [65]
Maria Stratigou’s welcome traversal of Louise Farrenc’s piano music has so far given us the complete études (Grand Piano GP912-13) and her earliest sets of variations (Grand Piano GP934) and she continues with the complete rondos, rondinos and rondoletti. These were written over a period of a decade or so between the late 1820s and 1830s and not surprisingly exhibit much of the same stylistic writing that we hear in her variations. It must be added that for the most part they make no great demands on the listener, being graceful, melodic and relatively straightforward in their harmony.
The earliest are the three Rondo faciles though some may question the title; perhaps faciles refers to the easy-going style rather than the technical demands; without seeing the score it would appear that they still require nimble fingers, especially the second whose central section is particularly busy. The three rondinos from the mid 1830s are given the titles pastoral, Savoyard and valse. They seem to have been intended as the 10th, 11th and 12th items in a volume of works for younger players by the publisher J. Meissonnier called Encouragement aux jeunes pianistes. The first has a flowing melody which is quite Mendelssohn-like while the second is a gruff quick-march and the third a valse, light-hearted and fluent in a simple A-B-A form like so many of the pieces here.
These are the only rondos that are wholly original. All of the others are based on themes from vocal works of the period, some of which are still remembered, such as Weber’s Euryanthe, Rossini’s Zelmira or Ferdinand Hérold’s Zampa. I imagine most music lovers will know the latter from the overture and not the second act duo C’est toi, c’est toi que je revoirs that Farrenc sets as the first of her four rondos les Jours Heureux. Others are far more obscure, such as the three rondos based on songs by Francesco Masini (1804-1863) who was known as the Bellini of the romance. His untitled barcarolle forms the basis of her brisk and jaunty second rondoletto Naples. La Sylphide is an extended waltz with genial outer sections and a more vigorous heart and is otherwise titled rondo valse on a motif of Masini. The final inspiration from Masini is the third of the Jours Heureux, another waltz in similar mood but much shorter. Grand’Mère is a companion rondoletto to Naples and was to be published along with a third piece as Op 17 though the Air russe varié eventually took that place. The third rondoletto is not recorded here and seems to be more of an instrumental duo, though the flute or violin is marked ad libitum, so presumably it can be played as a solo. What is played is the first piece, Grand’Mère, whose dramatic opening might suggest a darker work than we actually get and which describes a grandmother who must have been pretty sprightly. A song by Auguste-Mattieu Panseron, Dans une heure je vais danser, was the inspiration for the second of the Jours Heureux. It’s a jaunty polka that reminded me just a little of the fourth of Schubert’s Moments musicaux in the middle section. The 17th century Neapolitan air errata mmiezo mare michelemma – just Michelemma in more recent sung versions on Youtube – supplies the theme for the fourth.
The three remaining pieces are all rondeau brilliant and are basically opera fantasies in different form. The chorus Che rechi tu from Bellini’s The Pirate forms the basis of the first, Weber’s Euryanthe is explored in Op 11 and Antenore’s cavatina Sorte! Secondami! from Rossini’s Zelmira furnishes the melody of Op 13. Farrenc chose the female chorus that opens Act 2 of Bellini’s il Pirata for her rondo, Op 9. As with all but a few of the pieces recorded here, she furnishes it with an introduction that in this case sounds all the more dramatic because of the genial nature of the gently trotting tune. It is followed by a stream of elegant and attractive passage work which explores beyond the rather limited harmony offered by the original. The rondo after Weber’s Euryanthe has a little more scope; its theme is the Act 1 finale Fröhliche Klänge and takes the three distinct sections of that music separately, with virtuoso passage work adorning each theme. It should come as no surprise that the third opera rondo after Zelmira continues in the same vein; an introductory flourish leading into the main theme, interwoven with decorative passage work.
I won’t repeat the biographical information from the reviews of the opening volumes; it is identical in all three booklets, but Stratigou does go on to provide some information about each work and details of the occasionally confusing publication histories involved. I have nothing to add that I haven’t expressed before; Stratigou is an ideal interpreter of this music, technically adept and able to find a wonderful sense of the salon elegance evident in all these pieces. Grand Piano’s idea of recording CDs of all études, then variations, then rondos then, one assumes, more variations once again makes this an album to dip into rather than take in as a whole. But that takes nothing away from the appeal of the latest addition to this ongoing series.
Rob Challinor
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Contents:
Trois Rondos Faciles, Op 8 (pub.1827-29)
Rondeau Brilliant sur un chœur du Pirate de Bellini, Op 9 (pub.1833)
Rondeau Brilliant sur des thèmes d’Eurianthe de Weber, Op 11 (pub.1833)
Rondeau Brilliant sur la Cavatine de Zelmire de Rossini, Op 13 (pub.1833)
La Grand’Mère. Ier Rondoletto sur la chansonette de Lagoanère (1835)
Naples. 2e Rondoletto sur la barcarolle de Masini (1835)
La Sylphide. Rondo valse sur un motif de Masini, Op 18 (1835)
Encouragement aux Jeunes Pianistes (pub.1835-36)
Les Jours Heureux. Quatre rondinos sur des thèmes favoris, Op 21 (completed and pub.?1838)
