CD REVIEW
– GAUTIER CAPUÇON
Destination PARIS
Erato
54197721146 [76:02], also LP
& Digital
Readers who
responded to my enthusiasm for
his albums 'Emotions' at
the end of 2020 and 'Sensations'
two years later will know that
the cellist extraordinaire,
Gautier Capuçon, offers both
quality and quantity. Here he
gives us a further 22 varied
tracks of popular film melodies,
French chansons and classical
pieces. It seems that its release
now is not unconnected with the
French capital hosting the Summer
Olympics in 2024.
From the opening
track: the jolly Le Foule,
an Édith Piaf song, to the
closing: Reality from
the film 'The Party' or 'Ready to
Love', there is a gorgeously
consistent tunefulness. I am
unable to list the standout
tracks as for me they are all
worthy of the accolade. Among
them are Bizet's Habanera from
'Carmen', Waterloo Road
(Les Champs-Élysées),
Lehár's The Merry Widow
Waltz, Les Feuilles
mortes (Autumn Leaves)
– a million plus seller for
Yves Montand, Michel Legrand's This
Summer Knows, Georges
Brassens' Les Copains
d’abord, Ennio
Morricone's Chi Mai,
Charles Aznavour's La Bohème,
Debussy's Beau Soir,
Offenbach's Barcarolle
and Georges Delarue's Thème
de Camille. I even liked the
arrangement for one of my
normally least favourite items:
Francis Lai's Un homme et une
femme.
One of France's
most popular songwriters and
composers, Jean-Jacques Goldman,
has written a new song for the
album, Pense à nous,
for cello, the children’s
choir of Maîtrise de Radio
France (Bondy and Paris Sites)
and Orchestre à l’École
(Arles, Domaine du possible), as
well as making a special
arrangement of his Envole-moi.
Great credit must
be given to Jéröme Ducross,
described by the soloist as his
"ever dependable
collaborator", who has
arranged/transcribed 18 items,
had a hand in two others and is
the pianist on 14. He also plays
a harpsichord accompaniment for
the lively Danse des Sauvages
by Jean-Phillipe Rameau.
Orchestral support on all but six
tracks is given by the Orchestre
de chambre de Paris under the
baton of Lionel Bringuier,
himself a cellist and pianist.
The booklet has
three smut covered photographs of
Capuçon and his surroundings
from the fire raging in the
Notre-Dame de Paris on the
evening of 15th April 2019 when
he played Faure's Après un
rêve in the street,
describing it as "a message
of hope".
This is another
tremendously enjoyable album and,
like three years ago, a late
entrant for my CD of the Year
choice.
©
Peter Burt, November 2023
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