Polychromie Luisa Imorde

• Olivier Messiaen (1908 - 1992), François Couperin (1668 - 1733): Pièces de clavecin, 11ième Ordre:
• 1Messiaen, Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 11ième Ordre: Les Graces Naturéles - Suite de la Bontems03:00
• François Couperin: L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin:
• 2Couperin: L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin: Premier Prélude00:58
• Olivier Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano:
• 3Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano: I. La Colombe02:21
• François Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 14ème Ordre:
• 4Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 14ème Ordre: Le Rossignol-en-amour02:38
• L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin:
• 5Couperin: L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin: Second Prélude01:38
• Olivier Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano:
• 6Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano: II. Chant d'exstase dans un paysage triste08:28
• François Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 7ème Ordre:
• 7Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 7ème Ordre: Les Amusemens04:19
• L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin:
• 8Couperin: L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin: Troisième Prélude00:59
• Olivier Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano:
• 9Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano: III. Le nombre léger01:52
• François Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 18ème Ordre:
• 10Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 18ème Ordre: Le Tic-Toc-Choc ou Les Maillotins02:28
• L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin:
• 11Couperin: L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin: Quatrième Prélude01:10
• Olivier Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano:
• 12Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano: IV. Instants défunts04:16
• François Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 5ème Ordre:
• 13Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 5ème Ordre: Les Agrémens04:04
• L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin:
• 14Couperin: L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin: Cinquième Prélude02:18
• Olivier Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano:
• 15Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano: V. Les sons impalpables du rêve…04:15
• François Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 13ème Ordre:
• 16Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 13ème Ordre: Les Rozeaux03:26
• L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin:
• 17Couperin: L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin: Sixième Prélude01:46
• Olivier Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano:
• 18Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano: VI. Cloches d'angoisse et larmes d'adieu08:34
• François Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 6ème Ordre:
• 19Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 6ème Ordre: Les Bergeries04:38
• L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin:
• 20Couperin: L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin: Septième Prélude01:49
• Olivier Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano:
• 21Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano: VII. Plainte calme03:33
• François Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 17ème Ordre:
• 22Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, 17ème Ordre: Les Petits Moulins à Vent01:45
• L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin:
• 23Couperin: L'Art de toucher Le Clavecin: Huitième Prélude01:14
• Olivier Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano:
• 24Messiaen: Préludes pour Piano: VIII. Un reflet dans le vent06:27
• Total Runtime01:17:56

Info for Polychromie

On her previous albums, the young German pianist Luisa Imorde has already allowed different musical personalities to enter into an exciting dialogue.

On her new album, she now brings together two composers from France who come from different eras, are very contrasting and yet have interesting similarities: François Couperin (1668-1733) and Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992).

Just as the great architect Le Corbusier knew how to bring contrasting colors into perfect harmony with his "Polychromie Architecturale," a similar effect is revealed on the present album. Olivier Messiaen's "Huit Préludes" from the years 1928/ 29 form the starting point for Luisa Imorde's compilation. The synesthete Messiaen organized his harmonic system in special modes, to each of which he assigned precise colors, beginning with orange-violet and ending with a final colorful-spiritual light appearance.

The artist discovered exciting parallels to this in the work of François Couperin, the court harpsichordist of the Sun King Louis XIV. He, too, composed a cycle of eight Préludes and also wrote the definition of the Prélude, valid until Messiaen's time, as "a free composition in which the imagination gives way to all its ideas." Luisa Imorde juxtaposes each of these preludes with a character piece by the Baroque master harpsichordist in the same key. She uses Couperin's programmatic titles to build subtle connections to Messiaen's compositions. For her recordings, Luisa Imorde chose a modern Bösendorfer grand piano that brings out the richness of the music's colors, from full depth to crystalline treble.

"Luisa Imorde combines a mature playing technique with irrepressible passion for piece and instrument to create a sound experience that ignites the mind and inflames the heart," - the Süddeutsche Zeitung said about the pianist's piano playing. She played competitions and won prizes, but Luisa Imorde is much more interested in juxtaposing the works of different composers with the declared aim of making them audible to the audience in a novel way and revealing relationships that seemed to be hidden.

Luisa Imorde, piano

Luisa Imorde
couples a mature playing technique with an unbridled passion for the piece she is playing and the instrument she is playing it on, resulting in an auditory experience that kindles the spirit and sets the heart aflame" – said the Süddeutsche Zeitung of the young German pianist’s art.

She no longer knows exactly when she started playing the piano. Actually she cannot remember a time when she did not play the piano. Luisa Imorde comes from a family of musicians. She was a very small girl when she took her first piano lessons from her mother, who was already an experienced educator. Her father currently occupies a position as professor for piano at the University of Music in Rostock.

The young artist commenced her studies with Andreas Frölich at the University of Music in Cologne in the last two years before her school leaving examination. She continued them at the Salzburg Mozarteum with Jacques Rouvier, who is considered one of the world’s most important teachers of the piano. Luisa Imorde has played at competitions and won prizes, but she finds it much more interesting to compare and contrast the works of various composers with the declared aim of making us – her audience – listen to them in a new way and showing us relationships that we had never noticed before.

Booklet for Polychromie