The magic of this CD begins with the first notes, through the sound universe created by the Érard piano chosen by Alexander Melnikov for Chopin’s sonata. Associated with the golden sound of the cello Gioffredo Cappa (1696) from Queyras, it immediately gives a rather unique patina to the Chopinian impulses (magnificent dosage of the rises in power, for example, around 11 minutes in the 1er movement). Melnikov obviously swaps the Érard for a more scintillating Steinway in the Sonata op. 19 by Rachmaninoff. We can only repeat here a few remarks made several times on the contribution of such musicians to the interpretation of chamber music (the same goes for Zimmermann and Helmchen in Beethoven’s sonatas for violin and piano): we do not We don’t have a “big arm joust” here, but an attentive collusion aiming for the greatest subtlety and the greatest fluidity. So there are no “gestures”, the sound is not big and the nectar is to be found in the transition between the phrases and the musical breathing. This is where the soul of music lies.
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