Hommage à Barbara Alexandre Tharaud

• Barbara Strozzi (1619 - 1677):
• 1 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Pierre (Prelude) [Arr. Tharaud for Piano] 00:55
• 2 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Cet Enfant-là (Arr. Tharaud for Piano & String Quartet) 03:57
• 3 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Septembre (Arr. Tharaud for Piano) 03:20
• 4 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Mes hommes (Arr. Tharaud for Piano, Double Bass & Accordion) 04:28
• 5 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Du bout des lèvres (Arr. Tharaud for Piano & Keyboards) 02:08
• 6 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Vivant poème (Arr. Tharaud for Piano) 03:26
• 7 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Pierre (Arr. Tharaud for Piano, Keyboards, Accordion & Cello) 03:18
• 8 Barbara / Arr. Evis & Tharaud: A mourir pour mourir (Arr. Radio Elvis & Tharaud for Guitar, Snare drum, Keyboards and Percussion) 02:05
• 9 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Y'aura du monde (Arr. Tharaud for Clarinet, Double Bass & Keyboards) 03:53
• 10 Barbara / Arr Tharaud & De la Simone: Là-bas (Arr. Tharaud & de la Simone for Piano, Percussion, Keyboards, Bass guitar & Cello) 04:28
• 11 Debout / Arr Tharaud: C'est trop tard (Arr. Tharaud for Bass, Horn, Keyboards and Piano) 03:24
• 12 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Au bois de Saint-Amand (Arr. Tharaud for Piano & Percussion) 01:30
• 13 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Vienne (Arr. Tharaud for Violin & Piano) 05:15
• 14 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Say, when will you return? (Dis, quand reviendras tu ?) [Arr. Tharaud for Cello & Piano] 04:45
• 15 Fragson & Del / Arr Tharaud: Les amis de Monsieur (Arr. Tharaud for Piano) 01:48
• 16 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Attendez que ma joie revienne (Arr. Tharaud for Guitar, Double Bass, String Quartet & Piano) 03:28
• 17 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Pierre (postlude) [Arr. Tharaud for Piano] 01:46
• 18 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Ô mes théâtres (Arr. Tharaud for Narrator) 00:46
• 19 Rauber & Brel / Arr Tharaud: Valse de Frantz (Arr. Tharaud for Piano) 01:54
• 20 Barbara / Arr Romanelli & Portal: Nantes (Arr. Romanelli & Portal for Clarinet & Accordion) 05:52
• 21 Gnansia / Arr Tharaud: Ce Matin-là (Arr. Tharaud for Clarinet, String Quartet & Piano) 02:11
• 22 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Le Bel âge (Arr. Tharaud for Accordion & Piano) 03:53
• 23 Colombier / Arr Tharaud: Plus rien (Arr. Tharaud for Piano) 02:21
• 24 Barbara / Arr Romanelli: Rémusat (Arr. Romanelli for Accordion) 02:27
• 25 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: J'ai tué l'amour (Arr. Tharaud for Piano) 03:03
• 26 Barbara / Arr Tharaud: Ma plus belle histoire d'amour (Arr. Tharaud for Clarinet & Piano) 01:44
• Total Runtime 01:18:05

Info for Hommage à Barbara

For this double album, pianist Alexandre Tharaud invited a spectacular array of guest performers to join him in paying tribute to the singer-songwriter Barbara, who died 20 years ago, in November 1997. She shares a place of honour in French song with two other ‘B’s’, Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens. Among the featured artists are three world-famous actress-singers Juliette Binoche, Vanessa Paradis and Jane Birkin.

It is 20 years since Barbara died, aged 67, on November 24th 1997. Alexandre Tharaud’s idea for this album dates back to the day of her funeral. He, like many other fans, went to the cemetery in Bagneux on the outskirts of Paris. After the crowds and TV cameras had departed, a group of devotees remained at her grave and joined in an impromptu rendition of her songs. “I realised then that Barbara would live on through our voices,” says Tharaud. “I was young, but the recording studio was already central to my life. That morning, at Bagneux Cemetery, I vowed to make an album dedicated entirely to the music of Barbara. I needed time, and singers … The guests on this album are not those anonymous mourners, but dear friends I have invited to lend their own unique voices to this tribute.”

For Barbara, Tharaud has assembled a rich and imaginative line-up of performers from a variety of generations and diverse artistic and cultural backgrounds. While there is inevitably a Gallic bias among them, many of their names are well known around the globe. Among them are: actress-singers Juliette Binoche, Vanessa Paradis and Jane Birkin; rock star Radio Elvis; singer-songwriters Bénabar, Juliette, Dominique A, Tim Dup, Jean-Louis Aubert and Albin de la Simone; singers Camélia Jordana, Rokia Traoré, Hindi Zahra and Luz Casal; actor-director Guillaume Gallienne; Erato violinist Renaud Capuçon, clarinettist Michel Portal and the Modigliani string quartet. Alexandre Tharaud himself plays on nearly all the tracks – not just piano, but also electronic organ and keyboards, celesta and bells.

Alexandre Tharaud, piano

Alexandre Tharaud
For Harmonia Mundi, Alexandre made a series of successful and award winning recordings which included discs of Rameau, Ravel (complete piano works), Bach (Italian Concerti), Couperin, Satie. He has recorded a series of Chopin discs; the complete waltzes and twenty four preludes as well as a personal selection, Journal Intime, which marked his first release with EMI Classics. Subsequent, award winning releases include JS Bach’s keyboard concertos and a selection of Scarlatti’s sonatas.

In recent seasons, Alexandre has appeared at the Köln Philharmonie, Bern Casino, Essen Philharmonie, South Bank piano series, Rudolfinum in Prague, Krakow Philharmonic, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Cité de la Musique, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, John F Kennedy Centre and Hoam Art Hall in Seoul. His festival credits include ‘Piano aux Jacobins', La Roque d'Anthéron, BBC PROMS, Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music, Sacrum-Profanum in Krakow, Schleswig-Holstein and the Rimini festival.

Alexandre is a Resident Artist at the MC2 in Grenoble, and was the Artistic Director of the Amadeus festival in Switzerland in 2011.

As a soloist, Alexandre has performed with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo, Umea Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken,

Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Taïwan National Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy and the Bolchoi Theatre Orchestra. Next season will see him perform Poulenc’s concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

His close collaboration with cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras has led to invitations to perform at the most prestigious halls around the world and recordings of three successful CDs (Hungarian cello music, Arpeggione, Debussy/Poulenc).

Alexandre's adventurous approach to programming has resulted in a number of commissions and premières; he has toured extensively in Europe with his ‘Hommages à Rameau' and ‘Hommage à Couperin' programmes which feature works by the old masters interwoven with tributes by contemporary composers. May saw the premiere of Pianosong; a selection of contemporary works composed after popular songs from the 1960s-80s. He has also just premiered French composer Gérard Pesson’s new piano concerto, together with the Tonhalle.

Booklet for Hommage à Barbara