Solo

Description

Lucile Boulanger presents her first solo recital here. The French violist, whose accuracy and emotional playing are praised by everyone – BBC Music Magazine even referred to her as the "Jacqueline du Pré of the viola da gamba" – draws a parallel between Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel, a great master of the viola and very close to the Bach family. While Johann Sebastian never wrote for the viola da gamba alone, it is known that he transcribed many of his works for multiple instruments. Lucile Boulanger chose, for example, to transcribe three dances from the Sixth Suite, "because it sounds particularly good on the viola since it is written for a five-string cello (a step towards the six or seven strings of the viola?). It is in D, the quintessential key for the viola, and its style, already somewhat gallant, is reminiscent of Abel. (...) This album gives me the opportunity to showcase the viola as an instrument that is both melodic – with the texture of the bow, the fragility of the sound – but also polyphonic."