Moderato cantabile

Description

Cellist Anja Lechner and pianist François Couturier unveil their new duo with Moderato cantabile, a remarkable and unusual album. They approach music from different perspectives: Lechner is a classical soloist with an extraordinary interest in improvisation, Couturier is a jazz artist always traveling beyond it. On Moderato cantabile, they present their arrangements of works by three fascinating foreign composers, G.I. Gurdjieff, Komitas and Federico Mompou. At several levels their music reveals Eastern sonorities, in terms of the relationship between folklore and religious music, and in philosophical terms. The cello takes on almost the role of a singer and François Couturier’s compositions, influenced by his association with Anouar Brahem, function as contrasting but complementary elements.