All posts by Claire de Castellane

Grand Prix du disque F. Liszt awarded to Goran Filipec

Goran Filipec

The Ferenc Liszt Society from Budapest announced the results of the 39th International Grand Prix du Disque, awarded to the world best recordings of the music of Liszt.

Goran Filipec is this year’s recipient of this prestigious award with his albumPaganini Studies, published by Naxos.

The Liszt Society inscribed his name in the illustrious line of past winners, such as Vladimir Horowitz, Claudio Arrau, Zoltan Kocsis or Alfred Brendel with the mention that «Liszt himself would have greatly appreciated his performance».

The ceremony award will take place on October 20th in the former Academy Liszt in Budapest, during which Goran will play the Reminiscences of Norma.

The CD features all the versions of thePaganini-Liszt Etudes, including the rarely recorded Etudes d’exécution
transcendante d’après Paganini as well as the well-known Grandes études de Paganini.

« With a technique that makes you forget just how exacting these pieces are to play, Filipec not only generates the thrill of a live performance but does so with a disarming swagger and playfulness… A disc which can sit happily alongside those of Graffman and Hamelin. »
Jeremy Nicholas, The Gramophone

The pianist Goran FILIPEC joins Castel Production

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After having studied in Zagreb, Cologne, Moscow and The Hague, with N. Grubert, O. Yablonskaya, N. Trull and E. Zarafiants, Goran FILIPEC is preparing a PhD at the Paris Conservatory and at the Sorbonne University with a subject related to Paganini’s heritage in the repertoire for piano.

Having the virtuosity in the blood, the croate pianist stays a poet even in the most tremendous passages, avoids the pitfalls and serves admirably the score. At the same time powerful and subtile, he reveals a particular affinity for the classical and romantic repertoire.

He performs regularly in Europe, the US, Latin America and Japan. His debuts at Carnegie Hall in New York took place in 2006, followed by concerts at the Auditorium of Milan, the Minato Mirai Hall in Yokohama, Palace of Arts in Budapest and at the Philharmonie de Paris. Repeatedly invited to the Contemporary Piano Faces Festival Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, he has also been heard in 2015 at Progetto Martha Argerich Festival in Lugano, where he performed on invitation by the Argentine pianist.

In 2016 his Paganini Studies CD, devoted to the complete versions of Liszt-Paganini Studies and published by Naxos Records, won the Grand Prix du Disque from the Liszt Society of Budapest, with the Award Ceremony scheduled for October 20th 2016. With this prize Goran follows the prestigious list of its laureates such as Vladimir Horowitz, Georges Cziffra, Alfred Brendel, Claudio Arrau, Zoltán Kocsis and Maurizio Pollini.

More info : www.goran-filipec.com 

Page of the artiste : http://castel-production.com/en/artiste/goran-filipec-2/ 

Fantaisies Lyriques in june

Pascal Contet

The great operas in the pocket for a concert outside of the high roads

The two artists will be in concert :

– wednesday 22 june at 8:30pm in the salons of the Versailles’ City Hall, with the exceptional participation of Thierry Escaich.

– saturday 25 june at 6pm in the church of Saint-Crépin-aux-Bois (forest of Compiègne)

Long time friends, Paul Meyer and Pascal Contet immediately agreed to go on the road with this concert.

The adventure started when the accordion replaced at the last minute a piano at a concert.

Taking advantage of the complementarity of their instruments, and the perfect control they have over them, they help us enjoy great airs with great modesty.

> Program
> Agenda
> Contact
They’re everywhere !
(click on the pictures to access the critics – french)

The disc French Resonance still charming the critics

Elsa Grether

Four months after it got released, the disc French Resonance by Elsa Grether and François Dumont continues to spark acclaims and congratulations for its wonderfully played original program.

Two new reviews, in the specialized magazines Classica and Diapason have been added to the already long list of dithyrambic reviews.

Elsa Grether performance is particularly underlined by both articles : the journalists highlight the fact that her first disc, on Bloch, was already of great quality. The violinist thus confirms with her new CD her much promising talent.

Classica gives four stars to the disc :

« Elsa Grether had already drawn attention with a CD devoted to Ernest Bloch for Fuga Libera. Once again, she stands out as a top-flight violinist, succeeding in reconciling two imperatives: lightness of sound and a real orchestral power, indispensable for standing up to a piano part that is often intricate. Elsa Grether succeeds in this without being brutal, displaying a sonority that is always elegant and a well-drawn line without a thickening of the sound, in the lineage of a modernised Franco-Belgian school. »
Jacques Bonnaure, Classica, mars 2016
Diapason gives five ‘diapasons’ to the disc :
« Elsa Grether confirms the qualities of playing and inspiration that had charmed us so in her first disc, devoted to Bloch. Lines that breathe, silky timbres, in perfect connivance with the imaginative, masterful keyboard-playing of François Dumont […] animate a particularly poetic reading of the two sonatas. This violin, with its elegant legato and measured vibrato, that of a chamber player through and through, also nuances two thoroughly delightful short pieces by Fauré. An original programme, extremely well defended.»
Jean-Michel Molkhou, Diapason, mars 2016
Elsa Grether
To find out more about Elsa (in french) :
http://castel-production.com/artiste/elsa-grether/
To contact us :
By mail : claire@castel-production.com
By phone : +33 (0)9 72 37 17 27

Pascal Contet’s upcoming concerts

Pascal Contet

February 6 – Concert at Musicora

sacemThe accordionist is invited by the Sacem at Musicora on Saturday, February 6. This invitation is the consequence of a long collaboration with the institution, which gave him a “carte blanche” with his instrument.

Program :

Pascal Contet offers a concert / dialog, a musical moment punctuated by talks with the public. The program is made of pieces from Franco Donatoni and Franck Bedrossian, and several of his compositions / improvisations. This will be the occasion for the musician to discuss about his practice of the instrument.

Come discover or rediscover this instrument in a new way, serving both classical and contemporary music.

The concert will take place at 7 p.m. in the Scène mezzanine of the Grande halle de la Villette and will last around 1h15.

February 7 – Concert at Présences 2016 festival

présencesChiaroscuro, color, clearness, radiance… A complete world of shadows and lights, playing between Pascal Contet’s accordion and Florent Jodelet’s percussion. Sunday, February 7 at Présences 2016 festival.

Program :

The program includes pieces from Italian composers Fausto Romitelli, Francesca Verunelli and Franco Donatoni, and French composer Jean-Pierre Drouet.

It will also be the occasion to present the world first creation of the Cinq danses incandescentes by composer Gualtiero Dazzi, with the support of the Sacem.

The concert will take place at 6 p.m. at the Studio 105 of the Maison de la Radio.

More informations : the site of Pascal Contet, or his page on the site of Castel Production.

To obtain invitations for those concerts :
claire@castel-production.com / +33 9 72 37 17 27

New review of the disc French Resonance

Elsa Grether

“Elsa Grether and François Dumont wonderful in Pierné and Vierne”

A new laudatory article was published in the musical magazine Res Musica, on the disc French Resonance by violinist Elsa Grether and pianist François Dumont :

“In « French Resonance », Elsa Grether and François Dumont are irresistible in the rare sonatas for violin and piano of Pierné and Vierne, respectively from 1901 and 1908. ”

“The interpretation is alternately passionate, delicate, dreamy, dramatic, expressing torment and appeasement, musically and psychologically, in a style sometimes blossoming and sometimes more introvert, that the musicians manage wonderfully. The violin’s gusto, on the brink of madness, is ideally sustained by the piano which has the same excitement but keep some coldness, creating a balance that can be considered magical.”

Victoria Okada, “Elsa Grether et François Dumont magiques dans Pierné et Vierne“, Res Musica, January 23rd 2016.

 

The disc, released on November 3rd, 2015 by Fuga Libera / Outhere, is available on all legal downloading sites : Itunes, Amazon, Spotify, Qobuz, …

MusicoraElsa Grether will be at Musicora on February 6th, 2016 in a discussion on the importance of contemporary music in the renewal of classical music.
Time and place : 11:30 AM to 12:15 PM, Studio 1

Speakers : Bruno Ory-Lavollée, writer of Aimez-vous Beethoven ? Eloge de la musique classique and Nicolas Bacri, composer

folle journéeThe violinist will also be at the Folle journée de Nantes along with her agent Claire de Castellane on February 4th and 5th, and will be glad to meet you there. You can take an appointment here.

The violinist will be happy to meet you there,
and will be available to take appointments.

claire@castel-production.com
09 72 37 17 27

Violinist Elsa Grether begins 2016 on a roll

Elsa Grether, Non classé

jbm8192cjean-baptiste-millot

The disc French Resonance praised by critics

Recorded with pianist François Dumont and released by Fuga Libera / Outhere, the disc consists of two sonatas by Louis Vierne and Gabriel Pierné, that are, according to the violinist, “animated by a passionate wind”. Two minor compositions of Gabriel Fauré compose the rest of the disc.

    In Artamag’, Jean-Charles Hoffelé underlines the virtuoso and musical interpretation of the violinist, stressing the difficulty of the works, which contributed to their removal of the mainstream repertoire.

     Both the symbolism and the luminous atmosphere of Pierné’s work are completely understood by the violinist « […] Elsa Grether explains it with her intense violin, and does not fear the terrifying virtuosity of a complex writing, nor does she fear to go beyond formal beauty to insert some traits, a tension, a fantaisie that François Dumont’s orchestral piano adorn with a full and suggestive sonority. »

On another hand, Vierne’s sonata, darker, more romantic, let the violinist express a more emotional part of her bow and her personality : « Elsa Grether must give up the play of high fantaisie by Pierné to animate this vast recitative, somewhat uninterrupted in spite of the four movements […]. The bow speaks under her fingers […]. »

The disc, released on November 3rd 2015 by Fuga Libera / Outhere, is available on all legal downloading sites : Itunes, Amazon, Spotify, Qobuz, …
Finally, the redaction of newspaper Le Soir gave three stars to the disc, praising its originality : « Finally a french music recital different from the rest.», as well as the singularity of the musicians’ expression.

Elsa Grether’s New Year’s Concert

Elsa Grether’s latest concert, to celebrate the New Year, allowed her to demonstrate once more her virtuosity with the Mulhouse Symphonic Orchestra. Her performance in the Introduction and rondo capriccioso op.28 by Camille Saint-Saëns was particularly noted by several critics.

concert du nouvel an

Do you like Beethoven ? How contemporary music will save classical music

MusicoraThe violinist will be at Musicora on February 6th, 2016 in a discussion on the importance of contemporary music in the renewal of classical music.
Time and place : 11:30 AM to 12:15 PM, Studio 1

Speakers : Bruno Ory-Lavollée, writer of Aimez-vous Beethoven ? Eloge de la musique classique and Nicolas Bacri, composer

The violinist will be happy to meet you there,
and will be available to take appointments.
claire@castel-production.com
+33 9 72 37 17 27

folle journéeThe violinist will also be at the Folle journée de Nantes along with her agent Claire de Castellane on February 4th and 5th, and will be glad to meet you there. You can take an appointment here.