Violinist Laurent Korcia offers “scenes from life” in remarkable new genre-crossing CD, Doubles jeux
Posted by David in News“I have a preference for the improbable, or for what seems improbable, that sphere apart where nothing is expected, where very often spontaneity is most likely to emerge.” For violinist Laurent Korcia, that attitude might serve as a motto for his adventurous and questing career. It’s also an enticing introduction to his new album for naïve, Doubles jeux, due for release in the U.S. on Tuesday, November 20.
As Korcia explains in his stimulating liner notes for the new album, “To make Béla Bartók, Django Reinhardt, and Michael Legrand rub shoulders might well appear improbable. Not to mention Massenet and Jean-Louis Aubert. But what I wanted to do here was seat such widely contrasting natures at the same table – something unrealistic in concert, but possible on record – and give each of them what seemed to me his appropriate place, while relishing the fact that not everything quite fits.” The result for the listener, however, is a musical experience that rewards on many levels, as Korcia and his guest artists conjure up, by turns, the sexy intimacy of a Parisian café, the cool style of a jazz club, the nostalgia of an old movie house, and the intensity of a top concert recital. A complete track listing follows.
As Korcia further explains in his notes for Doubles jeux: “Scenes from life, perceptions of the human comedy and its expressions – this CD is not a manifesto, but a reflection of what exists, of what we are, of our paradoxes. Tableaux that succeed, but don’t resemble, one another… An album of photos, each of which I wanted to print with the greatest care, surrounded by crasftmen-poets with whom I wanted to set out on a voyage.”
Andrew Lamb enthused over Doubles jeux in Gramophone’s February 2007 issue: “Laurent Korcia is not only an uncommonly accomplished violinist but also an uncommonly original programmer. One would not normally expect to find Debussy, Ravel, and Bartók rubbing shoulders with Wieniawski, Denza, Massenet, Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli, and Michel Legrand. It’s a tribute to both his technique and his vision that the juxtaposition is so joyfully successful.” The album, which also features a work by Korcia himself, Minor Tango, has already been awarded “Choc du Monde de la Musique” in France.
Korcia’s previous CDs for naïve also showcased his singularly eclectic tastes and tireless curiosity. Danses [V 4978] featured a wide-ranging program of violin miniatures, played with an engaging assortment of accompanists. Reviewing the album for Gramophone, Ivan March reported that Korcia “plays a 1719 Stradivarius with great aplomb and succulent timbre,” adding, “there is no denying the élan or the passionate virtuosity of the playing.” March was clearly captivated with the project, electing to point out something mentioned in the album’s liner notes: “The film director Bertrand Blier tells us in the accompanying note that after he had played it ceaselessly in the middle of the night, his next-door neighbor came by next morning and insisted on borrowing the CD forthwith.”
Korcia is no less convincing, however, in a “traditional” two-disc album surveying violin music by Béla Bartók [V 4991], which was awarded “Diapason d’or” in France. Rob Cowan observed in Gramophone, “Laurent Korcia plays Bartók’s Second Violin Concerto as if he’s known it and loved it since birth. Everything sounds so natural. Aside from drawing a big, demonstrative tone from his instrument, Korcia generates a high degree of tension in the many quieter passages… A sure-fire winner.”
This fall, American audiences across the country will have the opportunity to experience Korcia’s captivating artistry when he appears on a public television special with Ayo, the internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter/guitarist. Ayo: Live From Monte Carlo was shot at the world famous Salle des Etoiles (Hall of Stars) in Monte Carlo this past August, and features the singer performing with such superstars as Sarah Brightman, Andrea Bocelli, and Michael Bublé. She also performs songs from her first album, the multi-platinum selling Joyful, with special guest appearances by Korcia and Les Solistes de Monte Carlo, the string section of the Monte Carlo Symphony Orchestra, directed by conductor Jean-Louis Dedieu. The special, which aired in New York on October 22 and will be broadcast nationally on PBS in December, will also include clips featuring Ayo and Monaco’s Princess Stephanie sharing stories about their mutual involvement in various children’s causes around the world. Joyful will be released in the U.S. on November 20, on Interscope records.
Ayo’s vocal style and poignant lyrics have invited comparisons to Joan Armatrading, Ben Harper, Otis Redding, and Tracy Chapman. She was born to a Nigerian father and a Romanian gypsy mother. She grew up under difficult circumstances in Germany (her mother became a heroin addict), started her career in Paris and London, and was discovered in New York where she was signed worldwide by Universal.
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