Philippe Chamouard (b. 1952)
Violin Concertino (2019)
Bassoon Concerto (2021)
Concerto Nocturne for trumpet and orchestra (1993)
Svetlin Rossev (violin); Giorgio Mandolesi (bassoon); Eric Aubier (trumpet)
Orchestre Symphonique de Douai/Jean-Jacques Kantorow
rec. 2023
Indesens Calliope IC013 [54]

This prolific Parisian composer has written nine symphonies the first five of which have been recorded on Indesens, Orphée and Skarbo. The Eighth is on Hortus. Indesens Calliope, a firm the name of which is an agglomeration of two middlingly familiar French labels, now turns to this composer’s concertos.

This Violin Concertino defies the diminutive label, at least in terms of mood. This is an out and out statement. As to style, the references for most listeners are Delius, Glazunov and Bruch. Saturated romantic textures and a very romantic songful line dominate both the full ensemble and the often virtuosic solo writing. It’s all quite old-fashioned, which is a description not a condemnation in this context. The work ends not in a blizzard of glittering spiccato but in a gently glowing downwards gradient into silence.

The three-movement bassoon work is consistent in style with the Concertino: nothing to strike fear into the lieges or the horses. It might, at times, be a work by Malcolm Arnold in the 1950s, but the voices mentioned in connection with the Concertino are also there. The central Allegro Profundo partakes of Delius and Bruch. It’s very much a Parnassian idyll; to the point of being a lullaby. The final Allegro Dinamico is perfumed and with an Iberian jauntiness. Contrary to dynamic expectations there’s a seam of drowsiness as well. The work’s ending is snappy and, it has to be admitted, tends towards the perfunctory.

I warm to the idea of a Concerto Nocturne especially in Chamouard’s sighingly satisfying work. Trumpeter Aubier is renowned especially in French repertoire.  His indulgence in relaxed and subtly shadowed romance shadows the orchestra like a remora. The solo and the full ensemble major on a partner-scion relationship not a showy presence against a submissive backdrop.. The work rises to a rapier riposte from the trumpet at 5.34 and 10.58 and a jazz curdled solo at 7.23. Nothing here is in braggart-neon; it’s all in subdued pastels. A sense of hard-won luminescent victory unfurls and unfolds in the closing pages: Delian pulse-calming.  There are no circus displays for Chamouard.

Apart from Aubier all the musicians are unfamiliar – at least to me – yet the finest artistry and brilliance is engaged. The brilliant recording – wide-stage and emphatic highs and lows – flatters both the music and its rendering by Douai’s orchestra and the three soloists. The liner notes set the scene as to composer, works and executants.

I would now like to hear Indesens’ recording of the other Chamouard symphonies.

Rob Barnett

Buying this recording via the link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free