Couleurs des Amériques Thomas Lefort & Pierre-Yves Hodique

• Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904): Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95:
• 1 Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95: II. Largo (Transc. for Violin and Piano by Fritz Kreisler) 04:23
• Scott Joplin (1868 - 1917): The Easy Winners (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Itzhak Perlman):
• 2 Joplin: The Easy Winners (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Itzhak Perlman) 03:13
• Manuel María Ponce (1882 - 1948): 2 Canciones Mexicanas:
• 3 Ponce: 2 Canciones Mexicanas: No. 2, Estrellita (Transc. for Violin and Piano by Jascha Heifetz) 03:07
• George Gershwin (1898 - 1937): Porgy and Bess, Act II Scene 2:
• 4 Gershwin: Porgy and Bess, Act II Scene 2: It Ain't Necessarily So (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Jascha Heifetz) 02:49
• Astor Piazzolla (1921 - 1992): Tanti anni prima:
• 5 Piazzolla: Tanti anni prima: Ave Maria 04:50
• Arthur Benjamin (1893 - 1960): Jamaican Rumba (Arr. for Violin and Piano by William Primerose):
• 6 Benjamin: Jamaican Rumba (Arr. for Violin and Piano by William Primerose) 01:44
• William Kroll (1901 - 1980): Banjo and Fiddle:
• 7 Kroll: Banjo and Fiddle 02:53
• Stephen Foster (1826 - 1864): Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Jascha Heifetz):
• 8 Foster: Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Jascha Heifetz) 02:45
• Fritz Kreisler (1875 - 1962): Syncopation:
• 9 Kreisler: Syncopation 01:56
• Antonín Dvořák: Sonatina in G Major, B. 183:
• 10 Dvořák: Sonatina in G Major, B. 183: I. Allegro risoluto 05:55
• 11 Dvořák: Sonatina in G Major, B. 183: II. Larghetto 04:19
• 12 Dvořák: Sonatina in G Major, B. 183: III. Scherzo 02:55
• 13 Dvořák: Sonatina in G Major, B. 183: IV. Finale. Allegro 05:52
• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Pièce en forme de habanera (Version for Violin and Piano of Vocalise-Etude en forme de habanera, M. 51):
• 14 Ravel: Pièce en forme de habanera (Version for Violin and Piano of Vocalise-Etude en forme de habanera, M. 51) 02:51
• Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major, M. 77:
• 15 Ravel: Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major, M. 77: I. Allegretto 08:22
• 16 Ravel: Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major, M. 77: II. Blues. Moderato 05:14
• 17 Ravel: Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major, M. 77: III. Perpetuum mobile. Allegro 03:56
• Total Runtime 01:07:04

Info for Couleurs des Amériques

Through finely wrought arrangements and original compositions, this album unfolds as an invitation to wander, a sweeping musical voyage across the vast and many-hued landscapes of the American continent. Carried by the luminous virtuosity of violin and piano, Afro-American, European, Caribbean, Mexican and North American influences entwine and resonate, revealing the countless faces and voices of the Americas.

Thomas Lefort, violin Pierre-Yves Hodique, piano

Thomas Lefort
Noticed at the age of 13 by Ivry Gitlis, Thomas Lefort was his disciple until his death, and enjoyed an intense and close relationship with him on both the violinistic and human levels. At ease in all repertoires, he now defends the legacy and musical generosity of the last great violin legend to have lived through the twentieth century.

"A magnetic musical personality with a marvellous imagination, Thomas Lefort plays with a style all his own, very natural, reminiscent of the great violinists of the Golden Age" Glenn Dicterow, former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

Born in Marseille in 1994, he studied with Frédéric Ladame and later with Suzanne Gessner and Patrice Fontanarosa in Paris. In 2012, he was unanimously accepted into Roland Daugareil's class at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, from which he graduated with top honours and a First Prize in violin. He then went on to perfect his skills in Italy with violinist Salvatore Acccardo at the Chigiana Academy in Siena and the Walter Stauffer Academy in Cremona, where he learned the secrets of the Italian violin school and acquired a taste for the acrobatic virtuosity of Niccolo Paganini's works. He also studied chamber music with teachers such as François Salque, Jérôme Pernoo and Nobuko Imai, Pamela Frank and Sadao Harada at the Seiji Ozawa International Chamber Music Academy.

He has won numerous major international prizes: Ginette Neveu International Competition (2007), Rodolfo Lipizer International Competition (2009), Grand Prix Ex-aequo Isaac Stern International Competition in Shanghai (2023), Premier Prix Jeune Talent d'Île-de-France (2007), Prix du Public at the Festival Musical d'Automne des Jeunes Interprètes (2012), First Grand Prix at the Concours Européen Jeunes Talents Un Violon sur le Sable (2014), Prix de la Fondation Banque Populaire (2016), Prix de la Fondation de France (2017), Prix de la Fondation l'Or du Rhin (2018) (. ..).

Thomas Lefort has appeared as soloist with many orchestras, including the Orchestre National d'Île-de-France, the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra, the Romanian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of Padua, l'Orchestre Pasdeloup, l'Orchestre des Jeunes d'Île-de-France, l'Orchestre Ostinato, l'Orchestre des Pays de la Loire, l'Orchestre régional de Cannes-Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, l'Orchestre national Avignon-Provence (... ) and under conductors such as Jean-Claude Casadesus, Dmitri Liss, Lawrence Foster, Alain Altinoglu, Bruno Mantovani, Adrian McDonell, Roberto Fores Veses, Nicolas Chalvin, Jonathan Schifmann, Chloé Dufresne (... ); in venues such as the Philharmonie de Paris, the Salle Gaveau, the Salle Cortot, the Salle Pleyel, the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the Banque de France, the Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Auditorium Stravinsky in Montreux, the Yekaterinburg Philharmonic, the Palazetto Bru-Zane in Venice, the Grand Amphithéâtre de La Sorbonne, the Fondation Singer-Polignac, the Théâtre de Provence, the Théâtre d'Avignon, the Théâtre national de Saint-Nazaire, the Théâtre de Nîmes, the Opéra de Marseille (... ) at festivals such as the Martha Argerich Festival in Hamburg, the Sommets Musicaux in Gstaad, the International Festival Les Sommets du Classique in Crans-Montana, the "Le Salon Romantique" Festival at the Palazzetto Bru Zane in Venice, the Folles Journées in Nantes and Yekaterinburg, the Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence, the Festival de la Roque d'Anthéron, the Chopin Festival in Nohant, the Un Violon sur le Sable Festival, the Menton Festival (...).

He has already shared the stage with many artists including Martha Argerich, Andreï Korobeinikov, Pierre-Yves Hodique, Yves Henry, Sélim Mazari, Itamar Golan, Vanessa Benelli-Mosell,Tanguy de Williencourt, Ivry Gitlis, Renaud Capuçon, Tedi Papavrami, Akiko Suwanai, Gilles Apap, Lucienne Renaudin-Vary, Edgar Moreau, Astrig Siranossian, Emmanuel Rossfelder (...) His debut album, entitled 'Folk', was made possible by the generous support of the Patrick & Ute Petit Scholarship, and features a duo programme with pianist Pierre-Yves Hodique (winner of the Best Accompanying Pianist prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 2011), released in 2019 on the Mirare label. In it, he tackles pieces 'that have made the reputation of the princes of the bow' (Cadences), 'generous in his outbursts and timbres, he shows great poise, fine sensitivity and indisputable technical sureness, a style without emphasis or useless effect, at the service of the spirit of each of the pages, with real commitment everywhere' (Diapason). He has recently released his second solo album, Il Violino Solo (2023), featuring pieces by Paganini, Bach and Enrst.Thomas Lefort appears on the soundtracks of several films composed by Grégoire Hetzel: L'innocent (2022), directed by Louis Garrel, Frère et Soeur (2022) and Tromperie (2021), directed by Arnaud Desplechin, and the Canal + series Paris 1900 (2021).

He is the creator and Artistic Director of the Festival "Les Étoiles du Classique" in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, sponsored by Martha Argerich in 2022 and Jean-Claude Casadesus and Karine Deshayes in 2023, which brings together the best classical musicians of the new generation for four festive days in the open air, to make classical music accessible to all.

He is playing a replica of Antonio Stradivari's violin "Le Tivadar Nachéz" dating from 1709 and made by Stephan Von Baehr.

Booklet for Couleurs des Amériques