Distanced homage to the classical style, unbridled and subtly ironic vitality of violin virtuosity, spells of symbolist drama and magic of childhood: it is in a kaleidoscope of shapes and colors that Renaud Capuçon leads the Swiss ensemble.


A spiritual tribute to Haydn, Prokofiev's "classical" Symphony (1918) succeeds in the fascinating alliance of an incisive modernity with the spirit of rhythmic neatness, sense of stature and gallantry of the eighteenth century. Renaud Capuçon's bow then takes flight in the delicate concertante romance, developed from a forgotten air of Benvenuto Cellini, that is Rêverie et Caprice (1840) by Berlioz, before abandoning himself to the devilry of the Tzigane ( 1924) by Ravel: all the violin prowess is brought together, as if for a wild improvisation (although very written) in this irresistible rhapsody. Always Ravel, whose childhood spirit reaches heights of poetic imagination in Ma mère l'Oye: we hesitate between magic and spell, radiant simplicity and sly meander, familiarity and exoticism, like the shimmer, sometimes reassuring sometimes disturbing, tales dear to the composer. Transported onto the stage with the symbolism of Maeterlinck, poetry pervades Fauré's Suite after Pelléas and Mélisande: in addition to the splendid "Sicilienne", we are enchanted here by the colors of the oboe, and the infinite delicacy with which the composer, modest, suggests tragedy.