This album features four major works for guitar from the age of Napoleon. Pascal Valois performs these works with exceptional presence and sensitivity. Pascal Valois is dedicated to reviving enthusiasm for the guitar scene during the Romantic era. He performs music from the nineteenth-century repertoire by using various period instruments, ornamentation, stylistic practices of the period, as well as improvisation, which was customary in that era. After graduating with honours at the Conservatoire de musique de MontrÃ©al under Jean ValliÃ¨res, and receiving the award Pierre J. Jeanniot during his studies at UniversitÃ© du QuÃ©bec Ã MontrÃ©al with Alvaro Pierri, Valois studied romantic guitar with Hopkinson Smith at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and with David Starobin in New York. He has also received a doctorate in Performance Practice from UniversitÃ© Laval. Recently, he has played in Basel, Paris, Riga, San Francisco, New York, Ottawa, and Toronto. He has been a soloist with many ensembles, among them Rigas's Ensemble Samsara and Montreal's Les IdÃ©es Heureuses. He has also given master-classes in many institutions, including the Manhattan School of music, the San Francisco Conservatory, and the Conservatoire de musique de MontrÃ©al.

Tracklist:

Guitar Sonata In D Minor, Op. 17 No. 1: I. Allegro Agitato
Guitar Sonata In D Minor, Op. 17 No. 1: II. Adagio Poco Lento
Guitar Sonata In D Minor, Op. 17 No. 1: III. Vivace
Sonate Brillante, Op. 1: I. Allegro
Sonate Brillante, Op. 1: II. Adagio Cantabile
Sonate Brillante, Op. 1: III. Vivace
Guitar Sonata In D Major, Op. 17 No. 2: I. Moderato
Guitar Sonata In D Major, Op. 17 No. 2: II. Adagio
Guitar Sonata In D Major, Op. 17 No. 2: III. Polonaise Moderato
Guitar Sonata, Op. 4 No. 1: I. Allegretto
Guitar Sonata, Op. 4 No. 1: II. Andante
Guitar Sonata, Op. 4 No. 1: III. Rondeau Allegro

UPC: 044747373324
Label: Centaur
Release Date: 1.17.20
Format: CD

Napoleonian Guitar Sonatas / Various - Napoleonian Guitar Sonatas (CD)