Recordings

CDs

(Most of the links below offer audio samples)

NEW: Gabriel Fauré: Songs for Bass Voice and Piano. Jared Schwartz, bass; Roy Howat, piano. Toccata Classics, TOCC0268, Release Date 4 September 2015. The first recording of these songs designed around a bass voice, this CD juxtaposes some of the composer’s best-loved songs with some lesser-known works. Going beyond the often arbitrary ordering of early editions, this programme draws out connections of poets and poetic themes, some of which restore the composer’s own original groupings. This is the first recording to be based on the new Peters Edition, which eliminates countless errors in older publications.

Gabriel Fauré: Lydia’s Vocalises: Roy on piano with Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, trumpet: a first recording of the Peters Edition first publication in 2013 of Fauré’s collected Vocalises, edited by Roy with Emily Kilpatrick. Linn Records, CKD 488, released summer 2014.

A Portrait of Gabriel Fauré, 2-CD album of Fauré piano music (including duets with Emily Kilpatrick), illustrating discoveries in Roy’s new Peters critical editions of Fauré. ABC Classics (Australia), 476 3423, released July 2009.

Click here for best current UK/European price (among various sites)

Fauré, the complete music for violin and piano, with Alban Beikircher. Arte Nova/BMG 74321 92763 2; both sonatas, 4 original single pieces, plus Roy Howat’s arrangements of Sicilienne and the delightful ‘Air de danse’ from Caligula op. 52; liner notes in English and German by Roy Howat.

Released in 2004, the disc was immediately featured as “Disque de la semaine” on Radio France Musique.  This disc sometimes disappears from the catalogues, but 2nd hand copies can usually be found on the likes of Amazon.

Pan, with flautist Michel Bellavance: Music for flute and piano by Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Ropartz and Pierné.  Meridian CDE 84509 (released 2004).

Roy’s Debussy series on Tall Poppies (all the solo piano music, including first recordings of two discoveries) is available direct from Tall Poppies or from amazon.com (etc.).

For recent reviews (besides the ones on the present site) see under TP165 on the Tall Poppies site. Each CD has liner notes by Roy Howat in English and French. Volumes 3 & 4 each featured, on their release, as CD of the week on Australian ABC Classic FM, as did Volume 4 on Radio France Musique.

Contents:

Vol. 1 (TP 094): Images series 1 & 2, Etudes books 1 & 2, and Etude retrouvée

Vol. 2 (TP 123): Preludes Book 2, Images of 1894, the “2nd Suite Bergamasque” of 1904 (ending with L’isle joyeuse), and 3 pieces of 1914–15

Vol. 3 (TP 164): Preludes Book 1, Estampes, Pour le piano, other pieces from 1904–10, and the world première recording of “Les soirs illuminés par l’ardeur du charbon

Vol. 4 (TP165): The Youthful Debussy, comprising all the early piano works up to 1892 (with a world première recording of the 1880 Intermède), plus Children’s corner

Emmanuel Chabrier, Joyeuse Marche.  Duets and 2-piano duos with Wendy Hiscocks (Joyeuse Marche and 3 Valses Romantiques), plus the solo Pièces pittoresques, Bourrée fantasque and other works. Annotations in English by Roy Howat. Editions STIL (Paris), 0306SAN94.

Available in continental Europe; in other countries can be ordered from websites like FNAC. Otherwise e-mail for enquiries.

Music by Johann Carl Eschmann, including the 2 sets of Schumannesque Fantasiestücke op. 6 & op. 9, with David Lee, horn and Oliver Lewis, violin. Guild Records, GCMD 7171.

Music by Philipp Christoph Kayser; Roy Howat plays in the 2 Sonatas for piano, violin and 2 horns, with Oliver Lewis, David Lee and Christopher Davies. Guild Records, GCDM 7163; also available on amazon.)

DVDs:

Debussy I

and

Satie, Chabrier, Ravel

2 volumes in the DVD series French Composers: The Piano; lecture-demos at the piano, each ending with a 20-minute recital.  IMC Music Publisher, Japan; distribution (presently Japan only) by BUNKENSHA Co. Ltd, 5-16-11-8F, Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan.  TEL: +81-3-3226-2691; Fax +81-3-3226-2692.

The recital ending Vol. 1 comprises Debussy’s ‘Clair de lune’, various Preludes, D’un cahier d’esquisses and L’isle joyeuse.

The recital ending Vol. 2 comprises Chabrier’s ‘Mélancolie’ and ‘Idylle’, Satie’s 1st Gymnopédie, and Ravel’s ‘Ondine’ (Gaspard de la nuit) and ‘Menuet’ from Le tombeau de Couperin.

How to improve your tone and play without pain (1995). Brigitte Wild (1908–1994), pupil and assistant of Claudio Arrau, demonstrates and discusses piano technique and the teaching of Liszt’s pupil Martin Krause with pianist Roy Howat.  E-mail enquiries or orders to Astra Communications, UK.