Description

The dazzling pianist Élisabeth Pion joins Arion Baroque Orchestra conducted by Mathieu Lussier in exploring rarely performed works by French composer Hélène de Montgeroult (1764-1836). A contemporary of Mozart, this artist fascinates modern listeners both for her trailblazing career and for her contribution to the development of the French piano repertoire.

Mathieu Lussier has transcribed Montgeroult’s Overture by “augmenting” piano and piano/voice pieces into a work for orchestra. The Overture “L’Impératrice” (the Empress) was arranged for this album and borrows its title from the nickname some admirers gave Montgeroult.

Montgeroult composed her Piano Concerto No. 1 by transcribing parts of two violin concertos by her friend Giambattista Viotti, which she adapted for piano. Her process of recomposition involved both the left and right hand on the keyboard, and considerably modified Viotti’s original orchestration.

Élisabeth Pion’s new recording also includes Mozart’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 24, a selection of five Montgeroult piano studies, as well as Romance sans paroles, a pianoforte and strings arrangement by Mathieu Lussier to the very moving Etude No. 26.