Avec Elles

Every work on this recording was composed or inspired by a woman. We become acquainted with Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944) and her Concertino - "a piece that has accompanied me for years and summarizes her immense talent", according to Mathilde Calderini; Claude Arrieu (1903-1990), a pupil of Marguerite Long and Paul Dukas; Mel Bonis (1858-1937) and the young composer Lise Borel (born 1993), who was commissioned by Mathilde Calderini to write the piece Miroir, which she premiered together with Aurèle Marthan in 2023. Debussy's famous nymph Syrinx and a transcription of his prelude La Fille aux cheveux de lin are also on the program, as well as his Six épigraphes antiques, inspired by the Chansons de Bilitis, named after a (completely fictitious) ancient poetess. According to the French flautist, Francis Poulenc's Sonata from 1957 is "probably one of the most beautiful pieces ever written for flute and piano". The work was written on commission from American pianist and philanthropist Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, who also did much for composers such as Ravel, Stravinsky and Barber.