Various Composers - Haïti mon amour (Célimène Daudet)

Information

1. Ludovic Lamothe - Feuillet d'album No. 1
2. Justin Elie - Chants de la montagne: No. 1. Echo-Isma o
3. Ludovic Lamothe - Danza No. 4
4. Justin Elie - Méringue populaire haïtienne No. 2
5. Edmond Saintonge - Élégie – Méringue
6. Ludovic Lamothe - Danza No. 1 "Habanera"
7. Justin Elie - Méringue populaire haïtienne No. 4
8. Ludovic Lamothe - Icônes vaudouesques "Loco"
9. Justin Elie - Chant de la montagne: No. 2. Nostalgie
10. Ludovic Lamothe - Feuillet d'album No. 2
11. Justin Elie - Méringue populaire haïtienne No. 1
12. Ludovic Lamothe - Danza No. 3
13. Frédéric Chopin - Chant polonais, Op. 74: Printemps (transcr. Franz Liszt)

Célimène Daudet, piano

Date: 2021

Label: NoMadMusic

https://nomadmusic.fr/en/label/haiti-mon-amour

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Review

Nine out of ten ‘unjustly neglected composers’ turn out to be nothing of the sort, suitable only for ticking boxes in concert programmes or filling gaps in discographies better left unfilled. Here’s a delightful exception: Ludovic Lamothe, dubbed ‘the Black Chopin’, born in Haiti’s Port-au-Prince, part educated there before going on to the Paris Conservatoire (thanks partly to the funding of some cultured Germans in Haiti) and returning to his native land for the rest of his life. Célimène Daudet, tracing her mother’s roots in Haiti, has organised a piano festival there, and as a result was given one of Lamothe’s scores by the Sainte Trinite Music School in Port-au-Prince. Her ensuing research has given us a tapestry of miniatures – melancholy, swaying, rumbustious, even violent in turn – by Lamothe and two other compatriots, Justin Elie and Edmond Saintonge.

Lamothe’s gentle genius shines here. Of the two ‘Album Leaves’, No. 1 would be a worthy bittersweet encore in any recital; No. 2 is more gracious, but again not without interesting harmonic progressions. The third ‘Danza’ shares that grace, turning personal towards the end, while ‘Loco’ pulsates with voodoo energy. Elie’s ‘Mountain Songs’ come close to the best of Lamothe’s clearly deeply felt poetry; the ‘Meringues’, a popular Haitian dance form, are lighter, more generic stuff but provide perfect contrast. A simple Polish song by Chopin, arranged (but ever so modestly, for a change) by Liszt pays final homage to the master whose music Lamothe played so beautifully.

This is a disc to discover and savour.

-- David Nice, BBC Music Magazine

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Ludovic Lamothe (12 May 1882 - 4 April 1953) is considered one of Haiti's most important classical composers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovic_Lamothe

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Justin Elie (1 September 1883 – 2 December 1931) is one of the best-known composers outside of Haiti.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Elie

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Célimène Daudet (born in 1977) is a contemporary French classical pianist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Célimène_Daudet

https://celimene-daudet.com/

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