Daniel Hope – Belle Epoque (2020) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Daniel Hope’s new double album Belle Époque, initially released as a Limited Deluxe Edition, combines popular and rare repertoire, which was written in the equally named “golden” period between the Franco-Prussian War and the beginning of World War I in 1914 in major European music nations.

For Daniel Hope, the time of the “Belle Époque” has long been a great fascination: “I have often wished I had a time machine that could transport me back to this time, to the Parisian salons, to this cultural atmosphere

Belle Époque combines works for solo and orchestra with chamber music; late romanticism stands next to impressionism and (early) music of the 2nd Viennese School. In world-famous works such as Massenet’s Méditation or Debussy’s Rêverie, Daniel Hope once again shows that great, warm violin tone that has established him in the top group of internationally renowned violinists.

But Belle Époque also features rarely heard or almost unknown masterpieces by composers such as Schönberg, Rachmaninoff or Elgar, which also convey the warm, melancholy and sometimes bittersweet, design mood that often characterized the music of this period.

For Daniel Hope, however, the key work on the album is Ernest Chausson’s Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, which he recorded here – with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra – for the first time in a version for string orchestra. Daniel Hope. “For me, this work embodies the musical quintessence of that time: the progressive tonality and at the same time the almost nostalgic need to go back in time and memory …”

Guest soloists include the pianists Lise de la Salle and Simon Crawford-Phillips and the soprano Mojca Erdmann.

Tracklist:
1. Rêverie, L. 68 (Arr. Badzura) (6:09)
2. Notturno for Strings and Harp (3:12)
3. Thaïs : Méditation (Arr. Knoth) (5:30)
4. À Chloris (Arr. Hope and Crawford-Phillips) (3:03)
5. Schließe mir die Augen beide (1:08)
6. Préludes / Book 1, L. 117 : 8. La fille aux cheveux de lin (Arr. Hope and Crawford-Phillips) (2:21)
7. Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Op. 21 : 1. Décidé – Calme – Animé (Orch.) (15:10)
8. Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Op. 21 : 2. Sicilienne – Pas vite (Orch.) (4:16)
9. Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Op. 21 : 3. Grave (Orch.) (11:39)
10. Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Op. 21 : 4. Finale – Très animé (Orch.) (11:28)
11. 4 Lieder, Op. 27, TrV 170 : 4. Morgen! (4:00)
12. Miniatures : 7. Valse Russe (3:11)
13. Chanson de Matin, Op. 15 No. 2 (Arr. Bateman) (3:17)
14. Serenade für Violine und Klavier : 1. Mäßig (2:08)
15. 2 Morceaux de Salon, Op. 6 : 1. Romance (5:48)
16. Piece in D Minor (1:19)
17. Andante, Op. 75 (4:18)
18. Sonate Posthume for Violin and Piano, M. 12 (14:16)
19. Jugendlieder : 10. Winter (1:07)
20. Liebesleid (3:14)
21. Morceau de lecture (1:25)
22. Quatre Petites Pièces : 2. Très modéré (1:52)
23. Quatre Petites Pièces : 4. Scherzando (1:00)
24. Quatre Petites Pièces : 3. Allegretto quasi andantino (2:01)
25. Quatre Petites Pièces : 1. Andante (3:02)
26. Impromptu concertant (5:15)
27. Préludes / Book 1, L. 117 : 12. Minstrels (Arr. for Violin and Piano) (2:12)
29. Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 7 : 1. Sehr langsam (1:07)
30. Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 7 : 2. Rasch (1:22)
31. Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 7 : 3. Sehr langsam (1:28)
32. Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 7 : 4. Bewegt (0:55)
28. Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 28 (2:31)
33. Suite im alten Stil, Op. 10 : 2. Adagio (5:33)
34. Introduction and Allegro for Strings, Op. 47 (13:58)