Christian-Pierre La Marca – Cello 360 (2020) [FLAC 24bit/192kHz]

Christian-Pierre La Marca here presents baroque pieces (for viola da gamba) as well as modern and futuristic music in a highly personal, patterned reflection that is radically innovatory for the instrument and its repertoire, stimulating for the performer and fascinating for the listener. In this cleverly devised sequence, pieces by Marais, Purcell, Telemann, Sainte-Colombe, Dowland and Rameau interact with Grieg, Chaplin, Dutilleux, Escaich, Ligeti, Casals, the Beatles and Sollima, interwoven with electronic music realized by electro-creatives Rayann and M.A.S. during the March 2020 lockdown. As la Marca confides: “I really like the cross-cultural, multi-genre aspect of this album: I love going from one musical style to another, creating links that did not previously exist, so as to reveal the infinite possibilities of the instrument”.

This new concept album confirms an already well-established trend, that of a new generation of young classical musicians who feel stifled by their repertoires and want to open the doors to freedom, or to what they see as freedom. In Cello 360, Christian-Pierre La Marca created a work for solo cello without any accompaniment, totally cross-genre, which pays no heed to temporal or stylistic boundaries. It runs from Marin Marais to Dutilleux, from Purcell to Ligeti, from Thierry Escaich to Charlie Chaplin and The Beatles with disarming ease and a technical mastery which lets him give free rein to his artistic expression.

Having only one (beautiful) instrument at his disposal, he plays with different bows, which prove so important for the production of sound, attack, power and rhythmic subtlety. He also selects different acoustics and sound recording techniques to match his chosen works. His album, which doesn’t belong in any one realm, defies classification. – François Hudry

Tracklist:

1. Suite No. 4 in E Minor: Prelude X.XVII (3:21)
2. Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares: No. 1, Lachrimae Antiquae (2:51)
3. Suite No. 1 in D Minor: No. 20, Les folies d’Espagne (Arr. for Solo Cello – Pièces de viole, Livre II) (5:27)
4. Suite in G Major, RCT 6: No. 14, Les sauvages (Arr. for Solo Cello – Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin) (2:27)
5. El cant dels ocells (3:20)
6. Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher: I. Un poco indeciso (3:56)
7. Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher: II. Andante sostenuto (3:06)
8. Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher: III. Vivace (3:05)
9. Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626: When I am Laid in Earth (Arr. for Solo Cello) (3:10)
10. Sonata for Solo Cello: I. Dialogo (4:27)
11. Sonata for Solo Cello: II. Capriccio (4:24)
12. Suite No. 3 in D Major: No. 63, Les Voix Humaines (Arr. for Solo Cello – Pièces de viole, Livre II) (4:38)
13. Sonata for Viola da Gamba, TWV 40:1: II. Courante. Allegro vivace (Arr. for Solo Cello) (1:48)
14. Cantus I (12:36)
15. Peer Gynt, Op. 23: No. 21, Solveig’s Song (Arr. for Solo Cello) (4:36)
16. Lamentatio (4:52)
17. Modern Times (Theme – Arr. for Solo Cello) (2:27)
18. Yesterday (Arr. for Solo Cello) (2:26)
19. Timeless (4:10)