Two centuries ago, ‘le tout Paris’ fell to their knees before the phenomenon that was Fryderyk Chopin. With unparallelled sensitivity, the darling of French high society conjured a world of images, stories and emotions from his black and white playground. Countless French composers, including the child prodigy Jean-Henri Ravina, the poet and violinist Benjamin Godard and the organist and music critic Léon Boëllmann surfed the wave of Chopin’s popularity with their own miniaturist character pieces. However, heavyweights like Camille Saint-Saëns, Charles Gounod and Claude Debussy were not beyond his influence either. They gave the French nocturne its own particular character, with poetic titles and idiosyncratic harmonies. Specialist Bart van Oort shows us the ropes.
Program
F. Chopin: Nocturnes, opus 27, no. 1, 2 | French nocturnes by J.H. Ravina, J. Egghard, C. Gounod, L. Delafosse, B. Godard, G. Bizet, C. Saint-Saëns, L. Boëllmann & C. Debussy
Performers
Bart van Oort, piano (Erard 1836, Erard 1898)
