Florentine Mulsant

The press speaks about it

"After having participated in a disc of French women's music (Triton), Florentine Mulsant signs, alone this time, a disc of chamber music: Concert Sonata for violin op. 19, Sonata for violin and piano op. 21, Trio for piano, violin and cello op. 23 and Cello Sonata op. 27. We might as well start with the most difficult. In this demanding exercise, this composer to be discovered makes us appreciate the rigour of her construction, the intensity of her writing and her taste for refined timbres. This is a sharp mind, at times dazzling! On listening, this disc takes hold of the listener and does not let go. There is not a note too many in Florentine Mulsant's writing. Her works are superbly served by Lyonel Schmit (violin), Henri Demarquette (cello), Fabrice Bourlet (piano) and Véronique Bourlet (cello).

"So many works, so many different facets of Florentine Mulsant's creativity are displayed in this monographic CD. The Concert Sonata for violin is expressionist to the extreme, a work of inner torment played with great determination by Lyonel Schmit, who deliberately seeks out the raucous sounds of his instrument. The writing is more lyrical, with a touch of neo-classicism in the Sonata for violin and piano, made up of short melodic-rhythmic motifs that seek each other out without ever really finding each other. The dramatic, even heart-rending, spirit is found in the ascetic central cadenza, preceding a finale where slow and agitated moments alternate, admirably transcribed by the Schmit/Bourlet duo. This same atmosphere reappears in the Trio for piano, violin and cello, with the same principle of short, very lyrical phrases, interspersed with dissonant chords and rhythmic counterpoints. Ethereal passages follow violent episodes, with no real continuity apart from a recurring motivic work. The writing, though very personal, is reminiscent of Olivier Greif (especially his War Sonata). A more recent work, the Cello Sonata gains in homogeneity of discourse without losing in emotional intensity. It obviously has a remarkable advocate in Henri Demarquette, who knows how to vary his sonorities according to the demands of the score and does not limit himself to making the notes written to inhabit this work sound good. Although oppressive, anxious and tormented, the musical world of Florentine Mulsant is never negative or pessimistic. Through this CD new horizons are discovered.