Chabrier: Pièces pittoresques; Impromptu; Aubade; Ballabile; Ronde champêtre; Trois valses romantiques

This is fun: the music is full of pleasing character, exuberance and memorable melodies, with Chabrier’s fondness for Spanish flavours much in evidence. There are gems not only among the more familiar Pièces pittoresques but in the remaining pieces too: the Caprice, for instance, is a mysterious, nocturnal work, not capricious at all. Kathryn Stott’s playing has delightful inner élan and bounciness – she sounds as if she’s enjoying every minute. Jessica Duchen

Jessica Duchen

Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:13 pm

COMPOSERS: Chabrier
LABELS: Unicorn-Kanchana
WORKS: Pièces pittoresques; Impromptu; Aubade; Ballabile; Ronde champêtre; Trois valses romantiques
PERFORMER: Kathryn Stott, Elizabeth Burley (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: DKP(CD) 9158 DDD

This is fun: the music is full of pleasing character, exuberance and memorable melodies, with Chabrier’s fondness for Spanish flavours much in evidence. There are gems not only among the more familiar Pièces pittoresques but in the remaining pieces too: the Caprice, for instance, is a mysterious, nocturnal work, not capricious at all. Kathryn Stott’s playing has delightful inner élan and bounciness – she sounds as if she’s enjoying every minute. Jessica Duchen

Jessica Duchen

Journalist and Critic, BBC Music Magazine

Jessica Duchen studied music at Cambridge University and was the classical music correspondent for The Independent from 2004 to 2016. She has also written for The Guardian, The Observer, The Sunday Times, BBC Music Magazine and the JC, among others. Jessica Duchen has written librettos include numerous choral works and operas for the composer Roxanna Panufnik, including Silver Birch, commissioned by Garsington Opera and shortlisted for an International Opera Award in 2018. Two more works based on stories by Oscar Wilde were commissioned for Garsington’s Youth Company, The Happy Princess with composer Paul Fincham (2019) and The Selfish Giant with John Barber, which fell victim to lockdown, this has been postponed to 2021.
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