Gramophone Magazine
February 2023
Editor's Choice

Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello), Alexandre Tharaud (piano)

Marais, M: Pièces de viole, Book 3, Suite in A Minor
Marais, M: Pièces de viole, Book 4, Suite in A Minor: VI. Musette
Marais, M: Les Folies d'Espagne (from Pièces de viole, Book II)
Marais, M: La Reveuse from Le quatrième livre de pièces de viole
Marais, M: Pièces de viole, Book 3, Suite in A Minor
Marais, M: Pieces de viole, 5me livre: Le Tableau de L'Operation de la Taille
Marais, M: Pièces de viole, Book 3, Suite in A Minor: III. Courante
anon.: Les Regrets (Arr. for Solo Cello by Jean-Guihen Queyras)
Marais, M: Pièces de viole, Book 2, Suite in D Minor. I. Prélude & VII. Sarabande grave
Marais, M: Sonate à la Marésienne: V. Très vivement - VI. Gravement
Marais, M: Pièces de viole, Book 4: Suite No. 7 - Le badinage
Marais, M: Pièces de viole, Book 3, Suite in A Minor. V. Gigue - VI. Double & II. Allemande

Twenty years after his harmonia mundi recordings, reviving the tradition of performing the great French harpsichord composers (Rameau, Couperin) on the piano, Alexandre Tharaud now joins forces with his longstanding partner Jean- Guihen Queyras to explore the works of Marin Marais... on piano and cello.

Drawing on their respective experiences in Baroque music, the two artists have taken up the challenge of presenting the essence of the master of the viola da gamba: timeless, even universal.

"I adore this recording...In a way that evokes Busoni’s Bach transcriptions, Queyras and Tharaud have for the most part opted for intensity and unpredictability." - Gramophone Magazine, February 2023.