Bel canto, la voix de l'alto

Description

Comment l'alto est-il passé du statut de « dramatic contralto of instrumental voices » (according to the critic Blanchard) à un « character of nobility and languor » comme on peut le lire dans le traité d'instrumentation de Georg Kastner (1837) ? Au-delà de l'intérêt historique, cet album répond en effeuillant les charmes d'un répertoire qui a durablement enchanté salles et salons parisiens tout au long du XIXe siècle... et au-delà. Or the story of an instrument that finally emancipates itself from the violin thanks to immense virtuosos: it took all the talent of two great musicians of our time to revive these pages going well beyond the exquisite languors of bel canto... The diva, it's the alto; its servant is called Antoine Tamestit, who here makes his first solo recording for harmoniamundi.