George Enescu - Suite no. 2 op. 10 - Charles Richard-Hamelin, piano

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00:12 - I. Toccata
04:16 - II. Sarabande
11:32 - III. Pavane
17:26 - IV. Bourrée

GEORGE ENESCU (1881 – 1955)
During his lifetime, George Enescu’s compositional output was eclipsed by his brilliant career as a soloist, chamber musician, conductor, and teacher. A virtuoso violinist who taught the likes of Yehudi Menuhin and who performed with Dinu Lipatti and Pablo Casals, Enescu was also an excellent pianist whose technique was admired by none other than Alfred Cortot. Enescu himself premiered his Piano Suite No. 2 in D major, Op. 10 in 1903. Three of the four movements were written for an international composition competition organized that same year by the magazine Musica.

To the “Toccata” composed two years earlier during a stay in his home country of Romania, he added a “Sarabande”, “Pavane”, and “Bourrée” to form a suite that he submitted to the jury under the title of Des cloches sonores (Ringing Bells). The bell image works particularly well for the rich, vibrant textures of the opening “Toccata” and the closing “Bourrée”. Enescu here seems to use a definition of “toccata” dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, when it could mean a fanfare-like work. Unlike the perpetual motion character of the toccatas from Debussy’s 1901 Suite pour le piano and the conclusion of Ravel’s Tombeau de Couperin (1918), Enescu’s Op. 10 Toccata alternates full, majestic writing that makes liberal use of the pedal and that spans both ends of the piano’s range with thinner, more articulate writing, thereby evoking different stops on an organ.

In the introduction of the noble, dream-like “Sarabande”, the arpeggiated chords accompanying the melody, played in octaves with the right hand, evoke the strumming of guitar strings, an accompaniment style that returns from time to time as the movement unfolds.

The “Pavane”, which bears the indication “lentement bercé” (slowly rocking), is the most intimate movement of the work. In the opening lines, the melody, with its free rhythm ornamented with trills and marked “quasi flûte” (flute-like), could be heard as an allusion to Romanian folk music; however, in a suite so highly imbued with French influences, it remains a very subtle evocation.

Much more exuberant – at times even pounding – with moments of dramatic intensity not yet reached in the previous movements, the opening of the “Bourrée” manages to be at once festive and solemn, with a motive in parallel thirds in the right hand that undeniably evokes a trumpet call. This motive takes on great importance as the piece unfolds, its rhythm or melodic shape variously taken up in different registers of the keyboard, culminating in an almost orchestral climax shortly before the end.

Notes by Florence Brassard
Translation by Peter Christensen
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This has to be one of the most cohesive and well written sets of piano music out there.

scriabinskunk
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Perfect.An underrated piano work that is rarely played.

adrianfundescu
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very interesting piece, never heard anything like it before...

b_nadams
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Love the Genius of Enescu and the briliant pianist ! Excelent Performance Charles Hamelin, i wish u more succes in the future !!

Moscu
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This is amazing. You're a very versatile pianist, I really enjoy your performances.

HayashiManabu
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I am mesmerized. I am a fan of Mr. Hamelin's style ever since I've known him from the Chopin competition. He is technically on point.

zenvirgil
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Almost an entire minute cadencing in D Major at the end, wow. Enescu really wanted us to know where we ended! Incredible piece and performance, bravo!

zacharywest
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Thank you Charles-Richard for choosing to play such poignant, important music. Your playing has inspired me for over a decade since I met you at CMC in Quebec, long before you became famous. Enescu had a photographic memory, and was King of both fiddle and keyboard in his day. You are such an elegant musician. Please share some of your prog rock! Long live Harmonium! Merci Beaucoup! It takes a genius to play the music of a genius well. Long live the Romanyi King, and long live our King Charles-Richard!

carlisleberesford
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can we all just appreciate how genius that fake cadence at 3:47-3:55 is

sociocrat
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All these works are really interesting, and the playing is top notch, I particularly enjoy the sarabande, looks like I'll be buying your second CD!

josephf
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So many componistic styles implemented into this work! At one point i can hear impresionist pasages, at the other neoclasic chordal rythmisations, and than all of the sudden romantic chromatisations and atmosphere. It is amazing and i feel bad for not knowing about this composer way before. :) I am just learning about him on mus. faculty..

marinasantrac
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The texture at 20:18 reminds me of the 2nd movement of Skryabin's piano sonata no. 2.

toothlesstoe
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WOW, bravo... a commanding performance of this fiendishly difficult but gorgeous suite! It is arguably somewhat over-written for an evocation of the 18th-century keyboard tradition, particularly in the Pavane and Bourée, the final two movements. That being said, both the Toccata and the Sarabande both have an enviable richness rooted in a respect for traditional structure - e.g., the Toccata is an approximation of so-called sonata form associated with the Viennese Classical era. Enescu was probably composing for musicians of his own technical calibre (violin was his principal instrument), effectively keeping his solo piano music out of the hands of amateurs, this in contrast to Debussy and other contemporaries who deliberately published approachable works for use on the home instrument. I'm struck by the way the key of B major comes to the fore in all four movements. D major and B minor are relative keys, sharing a key signature of two sharps, but B major is the parallel major with five sharps. It happens that both of those major keys are particularly sonorous on the piano, but in different ways, so Enescu clearly knew what he was doing.

Mezzotenor
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Very well played, thank you for this! Really good interpretation of a music that is no so well known as Chopin or other popular composers, which makes it even harder to play because you have so little inspiration from other pianists! I've played the 1st, 3rd and 4th movement of this suite. Now practicing the 2nd.

AlexandruGarleaKeys
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What a gorgeous reading of some amazing music!

nycs
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10:40 was clearly inspired/the inspiration by/for Rachmaninoffs 1suite for 2 pianos 3move

bozodorochenko
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Reminds alot of Scriabin.
Superb work!

amedeemereaux
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Pretty quiet youtube channel for a super-genius، super-master pianist!

freemank
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Does anyone else find this particular piece of his very Rachmaninoffesque sounding?

bozodorochenko
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It's a pity Ravel was not around to orchestrate this!

grimjim
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