Recordings

13 Barcarolles & Ballade Op. 19

LDV91, La Dolce Volta 2022

Avec le Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Emil Tabakov

LDV92, La Dolce Volta 2022

LDV30, La Dolce Volta 2017

Two striking features of this recording are the sheer beauty and health of Collard’s sound at the instrument, lovingly captured.

CHOPIN

LDV09, La Dolce Volta 2013

What a joy to come across this new recording of Chopin by Jean-Philippe Collard, his first in about three decades. And to discover his playing essentially unchanged, still with the same sense of an overview and naturalness in the phrasing, quite strong-fingered, tough and yet tender!

13 Barcarolles
5 Impromptus
4 Valses Caprices
8 Pièces Brèves Opus 84
Les 3 Romances sans paroles
Dolly, Suite pour piano à 4 mains op.56
Souvenir de Bayreuth
Mazurka op.32

COFFRET 2 CD

Piano Sonata in B minor
Années de Pèlerinage (Après une lecture de Dante, 3 Sonnets de Pétrarque)

A masterpiece of romantic piano music, Franz Liszt’s Sonata in B minor is particularly suited for the art of interpretation. A true journey through music, unique in form and rich in musical inspirations, it is both a gem and a challenge for the instrument.

19 Waltzes

Do you want to augment your collection?
Jean-Philippe Collard collects all 19 waltzes, including four posthumous compositions which are missing from the Lipatti recording. 

Ballades No. 1-4
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58

Piano Concerto No 1 in D Major Op 17
Piano Concerto No 2 in G Minor Op 22
Piano Concerto No 3 in E-Flat Major Op 29
Piano Concerto No 4 in C Minor Op 44
Piano Concerto No 5 in F Major Op 103 « Egyptian »

Wedding Cake Caprice-Valse in a-Flat Major Op 76
Africa Op 89 Molto Allegro

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
André Previn

Collard plays these works with subtlety, taste, refinement. He plays Saint-Saëns the philosopher, letting the music speak for itself.

In addition, on this bargain priced 2 CD set, we get two bonuses for piano and orchestra. The “Wedding Cake” Caprice-Valse was composed for a friends wedding, charming and pianistic.

The Fantasy Africa reflects Saint-Saens’ love of the East, full of indigenous rhythms and harmonies, with an exhilirating coda based on a Tunisian folk song.

Buying this CD set proves that there is a whole world of music out there, waiting to be discovered. While certainly not as deep or complex as the world of Beethoven or Wagner, Saint-Saens represents the last bastion of Romantic elegance in a world repidly decaying.

A joy in every respect; music, performance, recording and price.