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Sentiers de Traverse on CD

For her second album with Cypres, Laurence Mekhitarian has devised a programme combining the music of Robert Schumann with that of Gyorgy Kurtag, as it seemed obvious to her that their worlds share a profound emotional kinship. Certain works by Kurtag, such as the Trio Hommage a R. Sch. And Quasi una fantasia, bear direct witness to this. Alongside Schumann's Waldszenen, Laurence Mekhitarian has chosen to include three excerpts from Leos Janacek's cycle Sur un sentier recouvert and to play each of these pieces alternately with miniatures by Kurtag from his ten collections of Jatekok.

The pianist has followed a free path here, guided by echoes, resonances, contrasts and sonic affinities. Kurtag has been part of her musical life for nearly forty years, both as a performer and a teacher. His high standards, his depth and his humanity have had a profound impact on her. In her view, he embodies a rare and essential way of being in the world through art.

This programme has been constructed with curiosity and wonder, allowing the works to dialogue with each other. Kurtag's pieces - Fleurs, Objet trouve, Jeu avec l'infini - open up a sound space beyond the keyboard. They lead us to the Waldszenen, like a door to a world waiting to be explored. Each of Kurtag's miniatures is a tribute, a memory, a message. The journey ends with a transcription of a Largo by Johann Sebastian Bach, followed by a piece by Artur Avanesov (Modulatio, as a hidden track...).