Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Images, Livre I
Images, Livre 2
L'isle joyeuse
Estampes
Deux Arabesques
Pour le piano
"Voici que le printemps", d'après P. Bourget
"Clair de lune", d'après P. Verlaine
Extraits de "Ariettes oubliées", d'après P. Verlaine
"Le Faune", extrait de "Fêtes galantes", d'après P. Verlaine
"chansons de Bilitis", d'après P. Louÿs
"Ballade des femmes de Paris", d'après F. Villon
"Noël des enfants qui n'ont plus de maisons"
Trio pour piano, violon et violoncelle en sol majeur

Camille saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Six bagatelles, op. 3
Album, op. 72
Valse canariote, op. 88
Valse langoureuse, op. 120
Valse gaie, op. 139
Gavotte, op. 23
Feuillet d'album, op. 169
"L'Attente", d'après V. Hugo
"La Coccinelle", d'après V. Hugo
"Rêverie", d'après V. Hugo
"Guitare", d'après V. Hugo
"si vous n'avez rien à me dire", d'après V. Hugo
"Viens", d'après V. Hugo
"Tournoiements", d'après A. Renaud
"danse macabre", d'après H. Cazalis
"La cigale et la fourmi", d'après J de la fontaine
"El Desdichado", d'après J. Barbier
"Guitares et mandolines"
"Grasselette et maigrelette", d'après P. de Ronsard
"Pastorale", d'après P.N. Destouches

Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
Concerto pour violon, piano et quatuor à cordes en ré majeur, op. 21

Soraya Mafi, soprano
Sarah Fox, soprano
François le Roux, baryton
Sergei Redkin, piano
Jamina Gerl, piano
Mao Fujita, piano
Inga Fiolia, piano
Juan Carlos Fernandez-Nieto, piano
Graham Johnson, piano
Théo fouchenneret, piano
Benjamin Moser, piano
Mi-Sa Yang, violon
Victor Julien-Laferrière, violoncelle
Liza Fertschmann, violon
Quatuor Delian

Adrian Pinzaru, violon
Andreas Moscho, violon
Georgy Kovalev, alto
Miriam Prandi, violoncelle

“Vive la France!” – That is the motto which stood as an emblem for the Ruhr Piano Festival in 2018, its Anniversary Year. Commemorating the end of the First World War in 1918 and paying homage to Debussy, who likewise passed away a century ago, we decided to place the Festival’s annual focus on German-French friendship, an important political and cultural axis that has played a significant role in the history of music. I am therefore particularly pleased that this year’s boxed set of 4 CDs highlights France as a great cultural nation by featuring the highly variegated, exhilarating repertoire of two composers who left an indelible mark on the late 19th century: Claude Debussy and Camille Saint-Saëns. Ever since the Festival was founded in 1988, this cultural flagship of the Ruhr Circle of Initiatives has evolved to become the most well-known address for professional pianists on a worldwide scale. Celebrated masters of their craft and young rising stars all congregate each year in the Rhine-Ruhr region to present the fascinating, variegated world of piano music to an enthusiastic audience. One of the Festival’s remarkable traits is that it lends particular prominence to young artists who are at the beginning of their careers.