Avant l’orage: French String Trios 1926-1939
Cedille, 2022
8/10
Listen to Avant l’orage: French String Trios 1926-1939
The Chicago based trio Black Oak Ensemble bring us works for violin, viola and cello across 2 discs of largely world premiere recordings that are fleshed out with meticulous, sometimes fierce string interaction.
The listen opens with 4 pieces by Henri Tomasi, where the strings weave in and out of firm versus soft moments of reflective, stirring song craft, and the work of Jen Cras follows with a very soothing, nearly meditative quality that’s quite absorbing, and can even get dreamy.
Disc 1 ends with the very poetic and heartfelt demeanor of Jean Francaix’s vision, where the pretty playing gets quite swift, even uplifting as it exits.
Disc 2 offers us the dancing strings of the tense songs of Robert Casadesus, which ebbs and flows with much grace, while Gustave Samazeuilh’s contributions are particularly intimate, and cap off the journey with very thoughtful, timeless musicianship.
A fantastic package that includes a 20 page album booklet by Elinor Olin, and was recorded by the Grammy winning producer James Ginsbrug and multiple Grammy winning engineer Bill Maylone, the ensemble sounds as if they’re playing right in front of you in their diverse, inimitable delivery.
Travels well with: Lincoln Trio- Trios From Contemporary Chicago; Third Coast Percussion- Perspectives