Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic, Yan Pascal Tortelier – Pierre Sancan: A Musical Tribute (2023) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic, Yan Pascal Tortelier – Pierre Sancan: A Musical Tribute (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:13:21 minutes | 1,13 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Chandos

Pierre Sancan was a tremendously influential figure in French musical life, as a composer, pianist, teacher, and conductor, but remains relatively unknown outside France. Born in Mazamet, in 1916 – the same year as Dutilleux – he received his early musical training in Morocco and, later, Toulouse. He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1934 where he studied with Jean Gallon, conducting with Charles Munch and Roger Désormière, piano with Yves Nat, and composition with Henri Busser. He won the Prix de Rome in 1943, and eventually joined the staff in 1956, teaching there until his retirement, in 1985. A list of his piano students reads like a who’s who of French pianists and includes Michel Béroff, Jean-Bernard Pommier, Daniel Varsano, Jacques Rouvier, Jean-Philippe Collard, and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. Yan Pascal Tortelier, whilst not a direct student of Sancan, attended the Paris Conservatoire while he taught there, and remembers his influence: ‘of course through his extraordinary pianistic imagination but even more so by his physical allure and overwhelming personality’. This programme of the Piano Concerto, orchestral works, works for solo piano, and the flute Sonatine (played by Adam Walker) serves as a personal tribute to Sancan from both pianist and conductor, who very much hope that it will help to raise awareness of this gifted composer and his music.The music by Pierre Sancan on this album is all but unknown, even in France, and it may seem quite a surprise, even with the star power of the popular pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, that it turned up on classical best-seller lists in the spring of 2023. The only possible explanation is that the music is a total delight. Sancan was a teacher of Bavouzet, among others, as well as a pianist; even the booklet here offers the disclaimer that he was born too late and wrote neoclassic music in the middle of the 20th century. It would be nice if the discourse could get away from this idea, the notion of inevitable progress being quaintly Victorian by now. In any event, the music is lively and light in spirit. Those who enjoy the similarly underrated Jean Françaix will love Sancan, but the most remarkable feature is that Sancan wrote truly virtuosic music. It is very French, not keyboard-banging virtuoso music in the Russian sense, but its technical demands are considerable. There is a fine piano concerto and some short piano pieces (hear the two-minute Boîte à musique), but the real highlight is the three-movement Sonatine for flute and piano, where the two instruments interlock in difficult skittering figures. Bavouzet surely knows this music better than anyone else, and his performance here with flutist Adam Walker is wholly compelling. This is a unique document, a wonderful window into a French tradition too often dismissed as academic. – James Manheim

Tracklist:

01. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Ouverture joyeuse (05:27)
02. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra: I. Modéré (15:00)
03. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra: II. Andante (06:12)
04. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra: III. Allegro vivo (07:00)
05. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Symphonie for String Orchestra: I. Allegro vivo (04:09)
06. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Symphonie for String Orchestra: II. Andante (04:08)
07. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Symphonie for String Orchestra: III. Final (03:04)
08. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Commedia dell’arte Overture (04:23)
09. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Sonatine for Flute & Piano: I. Moderato (04:03)
10. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Sonatine for Flute & Piano: II. Andante espressivo (03:29)
11. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Sonatine for Flute & Piano: III. Anime (02:05)
12. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Toccata for Piano (03:04)
13. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Caprice romantique for Piano Left Hand (05:40)
14. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Boîte à musique for Piano (01:58)
15. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Adam Walker, BBC Philharmonic & Yan Pascal Tortelier – Sancan: Mouvement for Piano (03:34)

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