André Mathieu: Concerto No. 4; Orchestral Works

Alain Lefèvre (Artist), Andre Mathieu (Composer), George Hanson (Conductor), Tucson Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Tucson Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: George Hanson
• Composer: Andre Mathieu
• Audio CD (September 30, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Analekta
• ASIN: B001D7T352
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,834 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Born in 1929 in Montreal, André Mathieu, like Mozart, received his first lessons from his father, and was already composing little pieces at the age of four. Also like Mozart, he astonished audiences far and wide with his pianistic prowess from a very young age. When he was 12 years old, his composition, Concertino Op.13 No. 2, won First Prize at the Philharmonic-Symphony Centennial Young Composer's Contest in New York (over Leonard Bernstein's composition), organized by the Philharmonic Society of New York.

He performed it at a Gala concert at Carnegie Hall on February 21, 1942, three days after his 13th birthday.

His fame peaked around 1950. Thereafter he continued to compose, but the world took little notice. He indulged in day-long "pianothons," suffered a disastrous love affair, turned to alcohol, and died in poverty. Mathieu left behind wax recordings completed in private homes and studios of what the solo piano part of his Fourth Piano Concerto should sound like, how he envisioned the orchestral accompaniment to go, what the main and secondary themes should be, and many other ideas for the work. Ultimately, however, he ran out of time. It was left up to conductor and composer Gilles Bellamare to reconstruct, or perhaps create, the concerto from these recordings over the span of a year and a half.

Mathieu conceived of the concerto under the tutelage of Arthur Honegger while studying in Paris, where he moved when he was 17. Its influences are equal parts Romantic and Modern. "I hear it as perhaps a fifth Rachmaninoff concerto with a touch of Prokofieff," Bellamare recounted, "very energetic." Alain Lefèvre, pianistAcclaimed as a "hero" (Los Angeles Times), a "spectacular pianist" (Fanfare), a "smashing performer" (Washington Post), an "artistic winner" (Music Week, London), a "genial talent" (The Gazette), and as "the 10 most agile fingers to have emerged from Quebec..." (Toronto Star), Canadian pianist and composer Alain Lefèvre has a sparkling international career, touring repeatedly world-wide, performing to prestigious venues, in recital and with international orchestras and leading conductors. Having completed over a decade of extraordinary artistic leadership, George Hanson begins his 13th season as Music Director and Conductor of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in 2008. Critics have noted remarkable artistic growth by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra during George Hanson's tenure as Music Director since 1996, firmly establishing his reputation as an orchestra builder.

In the U.S., Mr. Hanson served as Associate Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony from 1988 to 1993, assisted Kurt Masur at the New York Philharmonic from 1993 to 2000, and was Music Director of the Anchorage Symphony from 1994 to 1999.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive Debut Recording From Tucson, November 15, 2008

By 

Erik North (San Gabriel, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: André Mathieu: Concerto No. 4; Orchestral Works (Audio CD)

The Canadian pianist and composer Andre Mathieu is easily one of the great unsung composers of the 20th century; for while he was quite prolific, not only was much of his work not very well known, he also didn't live a particularly long life, dying at the age of 39 in 1968. But in recent years, there has been a rediscovering of his works. And one of the great examples of this can be found on this fine recording.

Featuring Mathieu's impressionistic "Scenes De Ballet" (Ballet Scenes) and the Four Songs for Chorus and Orchestra, which bears a similarity to the short works for chorus and orchestra that Brahms had composed a century earlier, this CD from the Canadian label Analekta also contains the composer's lengthy but brilliant 1950 Piano Concerto No. 4 In E Minor, a sweeping piece of 20th century Romanticism if ever there was one (no less an authority than Rachmaninoff himself deemed the young Mathieu in 1939 a genius). The concerto gets an incredible performance here (possibly its world premiere performance, even if the liner notes on the CD don't say for sure) by Canadian pianist Alain Lefevre.

Just as impressive, however, is the performance given by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra under the direction of its music director George Hanson, with the Tucson Symphony Chorus featured in Mathieu's "Four Songs." Here, both orchestra and chorus have made their very first ever recording in their nearly eight decade-long existence. The precision that Hanson and the orchestra, along with the chorus (prepared by Bruce Chamberlain), and Lefevre display here is incredible, doing both Mathieu and the Tucson classical music audience proud.

Tucson has long rightly boasted about being the hometown of one of the great female pop music icons of the last fifty years, Linda Ronstadt. Now, thanks to this recording, this lush desert city in southeastern Arizona can soon boast about find itself on, at the very least, the regional classical music map of America as well.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars World Class Excellence, November 1, 2008

By 

Jon - See all my reviews

This review is from: André Mathieu: Concerto No. 4; Orchestral Works (Audio CD)

What a triumph this recording is. It is at once lush and detailed. If you are a fan of heroic piano playing and a Mahler-esque range of emotion from a composer whose intensity pushed him to eternity at age 39, this disc is a must buy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a revelation, January 22, 2009

By 

Michelyne D. Egan (stanfordville, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: André Mathieu: Concerto No. 4; Orchestral Works (Audio CD)

I was not even aware of this composer,but after having seen Alain Lefevre on Charlie Rose I googled everybody and I ordered it and it is fantastic. I hope he gets more recognition in the US.