Charles Richard-Hamelin
and Les Violons du Roy

Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 22 and 24 conducted by Jonathan Cohen, on Analekta

Montreal, January 22, 2020

For their first album recording collaboration, pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin and Les Violons du Roy, under the direction of Jonathan Cohen, have chosen to record Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concertos Nos. 22 & 24., recorded at the Palais Montcalm in Quebec City. Release date: January 31, 2020, on the Analekta label.

“This project, which brings together two of my favourite Mozart concertos, was an unforgettable experience. Throughout the recording, I felt like I was doing chamber music with each member of Les Violons du Roy and their conductor, Jonathan Cohen.

The piano concertos Nos. 22 and 24 complement each other beautifully, both from a formal and tonal perspective and in their highly different characters: if the concerto No. 22 is distinguished by its spirit and contagious vitality, the concerto No. 24 is an extremely powerful and tragic work.

The piano concertos Nos. 22 and 24 complement each other beautifully, both from a formal and tonal perspective and in their highly different characters.

The fact that I wrote my own cadences for these two concertos adds a very personal touch to this production, which I am very pleased to present to you,” affirms Charles Richard-Hamelin about this new album recorded at the Palais Montcalm in Quebec City and which is his sixth release on the Analekta label.

Silver medalist and laureate of the Krystian Zimerman Prize at the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Charles Richard-Hamelin plays with exceptional sophistication and grace which complements wonderfully the emotional fervour and warm orchestral colours of Les Violons du Roy and its conductor Jonathan Cohen, one of the best chamber orchestras in the world.

“I’m delighted by this truly harmonious collaboration with Charles Richard-Hamelin. I can’t imagine a finer colleague to work on these two great Mozart concertos. He possesses such a refined sensibility for the detail and depth of these extraordinary works. And with the experience and stylish playing of Les Violons du Roy, I’m grateful that we have here a very special recording.” says Jonathan Cohen, Music Director of Les Violons du Roy.

In concert

On May 21, Charles Richard-Hamelin and Les Violons du Roy will perform this album’s program in concert at Palais Montcalm in Quebec City.

About Charles Richard-Hamelin

Pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin stands out as one of the most important musicians of his generation. He has appeared in various prestigious festivals including La Roque d’Anthéron in France, the Prague Spring Festival, the “Chopin and his Europe” Festival in Warsaw and the Lanaudière Festival in Canada.

‘Pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin stands out as one of the most important musicians of his generation.’

As a soloist, he has performed with more than fifty ensembles including the main symphony orchestras of Canada as well as with the Warsaw Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Korean Symphony Orchestra, OFUNAM (Mexico), Les Violons du Roy and I Musici de Montréal. His albums have received widespread acclaim from critics throughout the world, including those of prestigious magazines such as Diapason, BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone.

About Les Violons du Roy

The name of Les Violons du Roy is inspired by the famous string orchestra of the court of the kings of France. It was founded in 1984 by Bernard Labadie, now styled founding conductor, and continues under music director Jonathan Cohen to explore the nearly boundless repertoire of music for chamber orchestra in performances matched as closely as possible to the period of each work’s composition.

‘The name of Les Violons du Roy is inspired by the famous string orchestra of the court of the kings of France.’

Its minimum fifteen-member complement plays modern instruments, albeit with period bows for Baroque and Classical music, and its interpretations are deeply informed by the latest research on seventeenth- and eighteenth-century performance practice. The repertoire of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries receives similar attention and figures regularly on the orchestra’s programs.

Image: Elizabeth Delage, courtesy of Analekta

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Analekta is the largest independent classical music record company in Canada. It has produced more than 500 albums and recorded more than 200 of the country’s most prominent musicians, winning multiple awards in the process. In early 2017, Analekta achieved the impressive feat of having the works in its catalogue streamed 100 million times on international streaming platforms.