Special offer. Paul Dukas: Oeuvres pour piano
Hervé Billaut (piano)
Dukas's single Piano Sonata remains among the most formidable peaks of the repertoire…Hervé Billaut is fully equal to his Herculean task [and] he is finely recorded.
Special offer. Paul Dukas: Oeuvres pour piano
Hervé Billaut (piano)
Purchase product
Dukas's single Piano Sonata remains among the most formidable peaks of the repertoire…Hervé Billaut is fully equal to his Herculean task [and] he is finely recorded.
About
For the 150th anniversary of Paul Dukas, Herve Billaut's new CD focusses on his piano music. Out of the 14 works composed by Paul Dukas (only 14!), 6 were written for the piano. The two most substantial works are the Sonata of 1899-1900, and 'Variations, interlude et finale sur un thème de Rameau', which are masterpieces. Billaut completes his recording with the 'Prélude élégiaque sur le nom de Haydn': a moment of meditation. Worth seeking out if your only encounter with this great composer has been the 'Sorcerer's Apprentice'; worth seeking out anyway. Robert Maycock, from BBC Music Magazine, gave 5 * to Hervé's Albéniz CD [for Lyrinx]
Contents and tracklist
Work length4:38
- Herve Billaut
Dukas:
Sonate en Mi Mémol Mineur
Work length36:17
- Herve Billaut
I. Modérément vite
Track length10:37
II. Calme - un peu lent - très soutenu
Track length3:25
III. Vivement, avec légèreté
Track length8:52
IV. Très lent - Animé
Track length13:23
Work length17:59
- Herve Billaut
I. Menuet et Variations de I à XI
Track length11:05
II. Interlude
Track length2:24
III. Finale
Track length4:30
Work length4:55
- Herve Billaut
Awards and reviews
August 2015
Dukas's single Piano Sonata remains among the most formidable peaks of the repertoire…Hervé Billaut is fully equal to his Herculean task [and] he is finely recorded.
November-December 2015
measured and thoughtful, the product of great familiarity and understanding of the notes … Billaut’s shaping of the music’s flow is subtle and nicely judged.
November 2015
He [Hervé Billaut] has superb technical command but also a rarer quality: he can tell a story through the music so he drew me irresistibly on. I was reminded of the late Charles Rosen, another pianist with a fine technique and a real intellectual grip on the works he played. Billaut has apparently been playing the sonata, and no doubt the other works here, for years, so these are also deeply considered and mature interpretations
2nd July 2015
[Billaut] plays [the Sonata and Variations] with just the right combination of rigour and flair, bringing out every colour in the more virtuosic Rameau variations...But most intriguing and touching of all is the shortest piece here, La Plainte, au Loin, du Faune.
