Paul
Tortelier
Maud Martin-Tortelier Release
1940's as La Voix De Son Maitre SL129 Duration: 3'34"
See also PASP006
- Couperin Concert a Deux Violoncelles
Play
30s sample:
I
discovered the two French HMV discs which provided these delightful recordings
in a "car boot" sale - or "vide grenier"here in our little French village - they were literally stuck in a
box of old records piled in the back of a car, yet were in immaculate
condition. Here we have a rare husband and wife musical team - the legendary
Paul Tortelier (above), surely one of the greatest cellists of
all time, together with his wife Maud made a fabulous musical duo. As
yet we've been unable to put a precise date on these recordings, but from
the sound quality our best guess is late-1940's.
Couperin
(1668-1733 - PASP006) needs little introduction
- the master of the French baroque, he was known in his own lifetime as
"François Couperin le Grande", and was part of
a French musical family to match that of Bach in Germany. Despite his
greatest fame coming as a writer of keyboard music, it is evident in the
Concerto presented here that his compositional skills were broad-ranging,
with fine contrapuntal sequences, fugal entries and wonderful interplay
between the two instruments. The short extra piece by Couperin in this
set, rather bizarrely entitled "Le Je-Ne-Scay-Quoy",
is offered below as a free download. On the original discs this filled
up half a side after the end of the Concerto.
Felice
de Giardini (1716-1796) is a far more obscure figure, with little
of his music surviving in the recorded repertoire. De Giardini was a well
known violinist, composer and director. He sang as a choir boy in Milan,
Italy, and studied music in Turin. In the 1730s, he began playing the
violin in orchestras, and toured Europe in the 1750s. He then moved from
Italy to London where he was involved with the opera. He also worked as
music master for the Duke of Gloucester. In 1796, de Giardini moved to
Moscow, but died in poverty shortly after. Both of the two short pieces
offered here are utterly delightful and it's not hard to understand why
they were chosen for this recording: PASP007.
.
Free
additional recording:
Couperin:
"Le-Je_Ne_Scay_Quoy"
Download
our Illustrated Catalogue Complete
catalogue of recordings, fully indexed by composer and performer,
with links to website pages
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Pristine Audio Collection - Volume One - 2005"
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Couperin
(1668-1733 - 
Felice
de Giardini (1716-1796) is a far more obscure figure, with little
of his music surviving in the recorded repertoire. De Giardini was a well
known violinist, composer and director. He sang as a choir boy in Milan,
Italy, and studied music in Turin. In the 1730s, he began playing the
violin in orchestras, and toured Europe in the 1750s. He then moved from
Italy to London where he was involved with the opera. He also worked as
music master for the Duke of Gloucester. In 1796, de Giardini moved to
Moscow, but died in poverty shortly after. Both of the two short pieces
offered here are utterly delightful and it's not hard to understand why
they were chosen for this recording: 
