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Farrenc - Firsova - Bonis: Chamber Music
Ensemble Louise Farrenc
Mel Bonis, Louise Farrenc, Elena Firsova

2025CPO 555624-2Chamber

Ensemble Louise Farrenc was formed during the pandemic to play chamber music by its namesake and other neglected female composers. This debut recording by the group offers a bracing contrast between the lush Romantic music of Farrenc and Bonis and the progressive, modernistic style of Elena Firsova, an audacious programming choice to match the passion of these performances.

Jan WellerHost

This release from CPO marks two important anniversaries – the 150th anniversary of the death of French composer Louise Farrenc and the 75th birthday of Russian composer Elena Firsova.

The USSR-born, UK-based composer’s piano quartet, now ten years old, is the centerpiece of this recording. For her piano quintet, Farrenc adopted the unusual scoring of her piano quintet from her teacher Johann Nepomuk Hummel. The first piano quartet of Mél(anie) Bonis (1858-1937) features Art Nouveau-like melodies and a lilting second movement, played with charm by Ensemble Louise Farrenc.

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