CD Review | Paris 1790: The Music of Monsieur Vidal (Analekta, 2023)

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Paris 1790: The Music of Monsieur Vidal
Pascal Valois and Jean-Guy Côté, baroque guitar; Jacques-André Houle and Olivier Brault, violin; Amanda Keesmaat, cello; Jessy Dubé, alto
Analekta, September 2023

Seeing a new release by Pascal Valois is enough to make a classical-guitar fan giddy; his elegant fingerpicking is a beautiful sound to behold. Paris 1790, featuring compositions by Monsieur Vidal —a baroque composer with no known last name—offers great additions to the modern maestro’s solo repertoire, and proves him to be a highly skilled accompanist.

The album opens with the first guitar concerto ever composed, an immediate burst of energy. The piece is an appropriate reflection of Monsieur Vidal’s innovative personality. The violin part is prominent but not overwhelming, and its soft gliding notes contrast well against the more complex and raw guitar melodies. This sets a standard for the rest of the album: no matter the tempo or frequency of notes, and no matter how many instruments are present, listeners can clearly hear Valois.

Valois demonstrates his soloistic talent in several performances, complete with ambient string noises, wood sliding sounds, and the sounds of his own inhalations, which turn the album into a personal, private experience. The Three Contredanses demonstrate his tonal range—sudden changes make his playing seem improvised, spontaneous but controlled. The subsequent guitar and violin duos show how important volume control is to Valois’s style. Without it, the subtlety of both instruments together would be lost. If anything, this album is a blessing.

This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en: Francais (French)