PROGRAMME

MEL BONIS, LE SECRET

MEL BONIS (1858-1937)

Sorrente
for speaking voice and piano

Soir & Matin op. 76
for violin, cello and piano

Quatuors with piano op. 69 & op. 124

DISTRIBUTION

YANOWSKI, narrator 
PIERRE FOUCHENNERET, violin
VIOLAINE DESPEYROUX, viola
PAULINE BUET, cello
DAVID VIOLI, piano

YANOWSKI

Singer, composer and poet, Yanowski grew up in the Parisian bohemia among the acrobats, guitarists, flamenco dancers and jugglers of all kinds that his parents frequented. Introduced to the classical piano at the age of 6, he grew up on a diet of fantasy literature, with a passion for adventure stories and poetry. At seventeen, he left school to go on shamanic journeys in Mexico and Guatemala. His experiences left a deep impression on him. His experiences provided him with the material to enrich his artistic creation. He went on to study philosophy, while at the same time composing hundreds of naturalistic and fantastic songs. It was during a trip to New York that he met Fred Parker, with whom he founded “Le Cirque des Mirages”, an expressionist cabaret duo that gave over 1,500 concerts in 19 years. At the same time, he created “Zorbalov et l’orgue magique” (Zorbalov and the Magic Organ), a story introducing children to classical music, accompanied by the Orchestre National de France. He is also a singer-actor in “Le Cabaret Extraordinaire”. “Delusion Club”, the new Cirque des Mirages show, will be a big hit at the Avignon Festival in 2019. He has also published his own work(Crimes d’orties blanches), published by Le Dilettante, and Ta main branleuse, published by Tu connais la nouvelle?

VIOLAINE DESPEYROUX

Violaine Despeyroux sees musical interpretation as a unique and immersive experience. This French violist, trained at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Danse de Paris, the Hochschule de Munich and the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth, stands out on stage for her personality and energy, both precise and electrifying. Her energy and tenacity have been demonstrated in prestigious European and international concert halls, alongside such renowned partners as Renaud Capuçon, Gary Hoffman, Claire Désert, Suyoen Kim, Alexandra Soumm and the Smoking Josephine Ensemble. Violaine Despeyroux has won numerous awards for her talent as a performer, including unanimous 1st prize at the Concours National des Jeunes Altistes and 2nd prize and the prize for the best interpretation of Bach at the Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition in Birmingham. A multi-faceted artist, Violaine Despeyroux is equally comfortable in chamber music and as a soloist. She has performed in France, Italy and Belgium, notably under the baton of Vahan Mardirossian and Ian Fountain.

PAULINE BUET

After graduating from the Paris Conservatoire in 2007, Pauline Buet began her career largely devoted to the string quartet, perfecting her skills at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Hochschule de Leipzig and the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth in Belgium. She was taught by such luminaries as Emmanuelle Bertrand, Emmanuel Balssa, the Artémis Quartet and Gunter Pichler of the Alban Berg Quartet. A prizewinner at international competitions, including first prize at the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition, she performs on major stages in France and abroad. In the field of early music, she works with some of the greatest baroque music ensembles, including Le Poème Harmonique, Les Arts Florissants and Les Ambassadeurs. It is within this musical eclecticism that she also champions contemporary music: Kaija Saariaho, Caroline Shaw, Magic Malk and plays with artists from other musical universes such as Anna Chedid, Gaël Faye, Ben Mazué and Renan Luce. Pauline Buet has been co-founder and co-artistic director of the Ensemble I Giardini for over 10 years, alongside pianist David Violi. Nominated for a Victoires de la Musique Classique award in 2021 for its recording of ‘Nuits’, the ensemble has since released ‘Bleu’ and ‘The Wheel’, a monograph by American composer Caroline Shaw. Her discography also features original ensembles, both for baroque cello (Vivaldi – Bernardina with Alice Julien Lafferiere) and romantic cello (Théodore Dubois, la Tombelle…).

DAVID VIOLI

David Violi trained at the CNSM in Lyon before becoming artist-in-residence at the Banff Center for the Arts (Canada) and then a disciple of Aldo Ciccolini. A prizewinner at the Yamaha Competition and the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe, he won the Grandpiano prize and first prize at the Sakai International Piano Competition (Japan). As a soloist and chamber musician, David Violi is passionate about the music of Schumann, Poulenc and Fauré, which he has performed in the world’s greatest concert halls, in recital and with orchestra. He founded and directs the Ensemble I Giardini with cellist Pauline Buet. Together, they create a space of freedom and exploration around a unique Romantic universe, combining the great composers of the repertoire (Fauré, Bonis, Chausson, Poulenc and Schumann) with an openness to contemporary creation (Caroline Shaw, Joséphine Stephenson). Nominated for a Victoires de la Musique Classique award in 2021 for its recording of ‘Nuits’, the ensemble has since published ‘Bleu’ and ‘The Wheel’, a monograph on the American composer Caroline Shaw. A loyal partner of Venice’s Palazzetto Bru Zane (Centre de Musique Romantique Française), the ensemble regularly records repertoire by Félicien David, Mel Bonis and Fernand de La Tombelle, as well as a disc of piano concertos by Marie Jaëll with the Orchestre National de Lille.

PIERRE FOUCHENNERET

A child prodigy, Pierre Fouchenneret won his first prize in violin and chamber music at the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 16, in the classes of Olivier Charlier and Daria Hovora. He went on to win the Grand Prix of the Bordeaux International Chamber Music Competition, the Sacem Georges Enesco Grand Prix, and became a laureate of the Natixis Foundation and associate artist of the Singer Polignac Foundation. An insatiable artist with a discography of more than twenty discs, Pierre Fouchenneret dedicates several years of his life to the work of a composer, working with the finest chamber musicians and, more often than not, recording the complete works. In 2018, the first volume of a complete recording of Gabriel Fauré’s chamber music with Simon Zaoui and Raphaël Merlin was released. With the Strada Quartet, Eric Lesage, Florent Pujuila and Adrien Boisseau, he is also embarking on the crazy project of recording all the chamber music of Brahms, to be released by B-Records over the 2018 to 2021 seasons. Spring 2020 will see the release of his recording of Schubert’s Octets and Raphaël Merlin, alongside Nicolas Baldeyrou, David Guerrier and Marc Desmons. A complete artist, Pierre Fouchenneret is recognised by French and international orchestras for his boldness and his vision of the repertoire. He has been invited by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Bordeaux, the Brno Philharmonic, the Nice and Strasbourg Philharmonics, the Saint Petersburg Baltic and the Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

ABBAYE DE MAUBUISSON