Fantasy

Description

After a recital featuring the Impromptus of Chopin and Fauré, pianist Ismaël Margain explores other short forms, the rondo and the fantasy. For this new journey, very poetic in nature, he returns to one of his favorite composers, Mozart. This is his first solo album dedicated to the master of Salzburg. Following a sumptuous recital that paired the impromptus of Frédéric Chopin and Gabriel Fauré (Impromptus, naïve, V7860), pianist Ismaël Margain continues his musical explorations by invoking other short forms, the rondo and the fantasy. For this new journey, as poetic as it is inventive, he returns to one of his favorite composers: Mozart, whose inexhaustible and unique power he glorifies with an incredibly pure and immensely refined playing style. Beyond the constantly renewed melodic inventiveness, all the works in this precious album form a fascinating kaleidoscope of Mozartian moods. While the Rondos, incredibly characterized, reveal rather homogeneous atmospheres, the Fantasies, particularly K. 397 and K. 475, burst forth with a thousand lights. The regular and sudden changes in mood and expression give them a very theatrical tone. In these almost improvisations, numerous characters come to life. Opera and stage permeate the discourse everywhere, and Ismaël Margain exalts the boundless imagination that so often inspired the pen of the author of The Marriage of Figaro. In this miracle that is Mozart's creation, a true living mystery that he was able to explore through his contact with the indispensable Maria João Pires, the French pianist ardently scrutinizes contrasts, precisely outlines lines, and enriches textures with unprecedented reliefs; he delves into emotions to better highlight their diversity. Interpreting Mozart on a modern piano raises several questions of a historical, aesthetic, and instrumental nature. Naturally, Ismaël Margain has been familiar with Mozart since a young age. However, this album marks the culmination of a respectable period of reflection. It required freedom, and thus rigorously informing oneself, fully assimilating the style - the styles! Or integrating the many notions related to articulation, ornaments, or tempos, as well as clarifying the question of the pedal. At thirty-two, Margain offers us his Mozartian freedom, that of a subtle balance between historical-musicological considerations and an exacerbated instrumental delight. Yes, undoubtedly, the bubbling child of Salzburg would savor today's piano and its countless dynamic and expressive possibilities!