The Pleyel piano used for this recording is a hybrid instrument, with a Napoleon III style exterior featuring fluted feet and golden acanthus leaves, but an internal mechanism dating from 1909.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded on a Pleyel piano from 1909, chosen to evoke the sound of the early 20th century, an era when Marcelle Meyer performed this repertoire.
Interpretation
Marcelle Meyer revived rarely played 18th-century keyboard music by composers like Rameau, Couperin, Bach, and Scarlatti, decades before the early music performance practice movement.
Performer Biography
Marcelle Meyer was hired by Diaghilev to play one of the two pianos in the scandalous premiere of Erik Satie's ballet Parade, with a libretto by Cocteau and sets by Picasso.
Performer Biography
Marcelle Meyer, a French pianist, was a muse for composers of her time, including those of the Groupe des Six, and is depicted in Jacques-Émile Blanche's famous 1922 painting.
Compositional Technique
Rameau's experimental compositional processes, particularly enharmony, allowed a single note to have two designations depending on its harmonic context, a technique that later culminated in Wagner's Tristan chord.
Performer Biography
Marcelle Meyer studied Debussy's Préludes with the composer himself and premiered them in full at Salle Gaveau a year after his death.
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