After Janelle Fung’s Centrediscs recital released at the end of 2019, here is Memories of Auguste Descarriesdevoted to the composer and pianist from Quebec (1896-1958), Prix d’Europe in 1921. This first solo album by Montreal pianist Isabelle David only overlaps Janelle Fung’s program for two of the fourteen tracks (At the discretion of the wave and Serenitas). Moreover, eight works from the album are unpublished pieces, one of them discovered in 2021. We can therefore consider the two publications as complementary. Constituted around an imposing SonataFung’s CD takes priority, but this one includes a number of very successful descriptive works which give, as before, the impression of hearing more accomplished André Mathieu (cf. the variations and the construction of the Canadian Rhapsody and the success of Nostalgia). Not forgetting the CD Atma (2020) devoted to chamber music and melodies, we can only rejoice at the enrichment of the portrait of this endearing post-romantic composer.
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