Faure's piano works are certainly underestimated, if you look at his composition titles, he's certainly a Chopin copyist, and certainly Faure gives Chopin a run for his money with his 13 Nocturnes, against Chopin's 21, of course Chopin wins ultimately, but some of Faure's works would grace Chopin's output, especially his early Nocturnes, his later Nocturnes are more subtle, they don't give up their gems so easily, but if you listen carefully they're still there, and this is a nice two box set, again another one of these fatbox sets, a great way to delve into Faure's piano output.
Jean-Philippe Collard is French, born in 1948, he recorded these pieces in 1973 when he was 25, considering the age of the recording, these sound fantastic, these box sets in EMI's rouge et noir series are fantastic, and the front cover photograph [by Jacques Sarrat], is absolutely fantastic, a simple enough portrait, but superbly in focus, and high quality, well lit, using a dark background it makes Collard really stand out, and the pose is great too, the lettering is coloured differently, which differentiates things nicely, and even the logo adds that perfect finishing touch.
The Nocturnes i enjoyed the most were 1-2 & 4, and even though probably 4 is my favourite, this time around it was the Nocturne One that really impressed me,.
Here's Faure's Nocturne One being played on YouTube.
The Nocturnes i enjoyed the most were 1-2 & 4, and even though probably 4 is my favourite, this time around it was the Nocturne One that really impressed me,.
