Edgar Moreau & David Kadouch – Franck, Poulenc & Strohl: Cello Sonatas (2018) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

No-one could think that Edgar Moreau and David Kadouch had an easy job in selecting the programme for this album, which begins with the expansive and impressive Grand Dramatic Sonata (Grande sonate dramatique) “Titus et Bérénice”, by Rita Strohl (1865-1941), a pseudonym of Aimée Marie Marguerite Mercédès Larousse La Villette, a French composer of the same vein as Franck or Saint-Saëns. Rita Strohl has gone down in history as an astounding character: she had the idea of creating a kind of French Bayreuth, La Grange, in Bièvres (!) with the support of Odilon Redon and a number of other artists of the day; it was done in aid of performing Rita’s operas – monumental works, more than a match for any of the most colossal excesses of Scriabin: a Christian cycle, a Celtic cycle lasting five days, a Hindu cycle in seven. The sheer size of these projects was overwhelming, to say nothing of other troubles such as the start of the First World War and other personal troubles of Strohl’s. All the same, this Sonata reveals in Strohl a figure bursting with talents and ideas, which Moreau and Kadouch bring to life with unstinting devotion. Poulenc’s little-performed Sonata for Cello and Piano follows: a delicious taste of Poulenc’s “light” output, which almost classes as salon music. The other great moment on the album is Franck’s Sonata, as re-written by Jules Desart during the composer’s lifetime. The album also offers a little rarity from Fernand de La Tombelle, one of the founding members of the Schola Cantorum, whose score relates to the work of Reynaldo Hahn. This ample album closes with a world-first Poulenc recording (such a thing is still possible!), Souvenirs. It is well-named: the piano part appears to recall (or prefigure) the dramas of Dialogues, while the cello, which only intervenes occasionally, shows off Poulenc’s salon voice!

Tracklist:
Rita Strohl (1865-1941)
01. Great Dramatic Sonata, “Titus et Bérénice”: I. Allegro moderato
02. Great Dramatic Sonata, “Titus et Bérénice”: II. Vivace-Molto movimento
03. Great Dramatic Sonata, “Titus et Bérénice”: III. Lento, Tristamente
04. Great Dramatic Sonata, “Titus et Bérénice”: IV. Allegro molto movimento
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
05. Cello Sonata, FP 143: I. Allegro-Tempo di marcia
06. Cello Sonata, FP 143: II. Cavatine
07. Cello Sonata, FP 143: III. Ballabile
08. Cello Sonata, FP 143: IV. Finale
César Franck (1822-1890)
09. Violin Sonata in A Major, FWV 8: I. Allegretto ben moderato (Arr. Delsart for Cello & Piano)
10. Violin Sonata in A Major, FWV 8: II. Allegro (Arr. Delsart for Cello & Piano)
11. Violin Sonata in A Major, FWV 8: III. Recitativo-Fantasia (ben moderato) [Arr. Delsart for Cello & Piano]12. Violin Sonata in A Major, FWV 8: IV. Allegretto poco mosso (Arr. Delsart for Cello & Piano)
Fernand de la Tombelle (1854-1928)
13. Andante espressivo for Cello & Piano
Francis Poulenc
14. Souvenirs