Mel Bonis Musique de chambre pour violon et piano Cantoreggi Arnold Rivinius Faust - AVI8553534

Le milieu petit-bourgeois et l’éducation conservatrice dans lesquels évolua Mel Bonis auraient pu avoir raison de sa carrière musicale. Pianiste douée dès l’enfance, César Franck l’encouragea à entrer au Conservatoire de Paris devenant une des rares femmes admises en classe de composition dans laquelle son talent fut remarqué. Parmi un catalogue varié de quelques 300 œuvres, ce programme se consacre aux compositions pour violon et piano plus quatre pièces en trio. Elles sont représentatives de l’esthétique des débuts du XXème siècle. Suites de tableaux musicaux, titres pittoresques, pièces inspirées de moments de la journée, parfums exotiques exquis et stylisés, lumineuses, lyriques, fluides et délicates, tendres et rêveuses ou guillerettes, ces compositions distillent un discours raffiné et élaboré aux teintes impressionnistes dans l’esprit des œuvres de l’époque. Pièce d’envergure du programme, la Sonate pour violon et piano (1922) confirme la qualité de l’inspiration et de la verve créatrice animant l’œuvre au lyrisme passionné et accrocheur tant mélancolique que rythmé de la compositrice. Ce double-album est une preuve supplémentaire que le nom de Mel Bonis mérite sa place dans l’histoire de la musique. (Laurent Mineau)

A late discovery of a most important female composer from France for the musical world. Mélanie Hélène Bonis, known by her artistic pseudonym Mel Bonis (21 January 1858 – 18 March 1937), was a Romantic composer in the late years of the 19 c. and first half of the 20c. Her Oeuvre includes more than 300 pieces: music for piano, chamber music in various formats, organ pieces, Lieder, choral music, a mass, and works for orchestra. Her teachers at the Paris Conservatoire included César Franck, Ernest Guiraud and Auguste Bazille. To everybodies surprise Mel Bonis succeeded in the Paris society and was well regarded by her male composer fellows Camille Saint-Saëns, her fellow student Claude Debussy and others. Some of her works have been officially published. She was born into a very concervative family with a high catholic morality! Her private life was very much under this pressure, although she wanted to be free in choosing her profession as well as her private life. Sheila Arnold and Sandrine Cantoreggi initiated this album and discovered not only a piece - Soir - never played or was registered before, but kept her choice also mainly to their own instruments Violin and Fortepiano (on a Bluethner Fortepiano 1871). Two Trios (one with Cello, the other with flute) embrace the program of small short pieces for Violin and Fortepiano, highlighting in particular the larger Violin Sonata, Op. 112.