Pluie d'or CD reviews

 This monographic CD marks Musicatreize's long association with composer François-Bernard Mâche, whose four works on this recording span almost sixty years (1959-2017) of sound creation. 
A composer and musicologist with a passion for Greek civilization (he obtained a Diplôme d'Études Supérieures d'Archéologie Grecque in 1957), François-Bernard Mâche writes music nourished by this historical and literary baggage, conveying legends, the beauty of the ancient language and its evocative power. The first piece on this album, Safous Mélè (" Sappho's verses"), bears witness to this, with the counter-alto voice carried by the choir highlighting the sonorities of the language - a toned language, according to the composer - through the verses of the poetess. The instruments are not to be outdone, coloring and even relaying the vocal texture ("The charm of an apple wood"). The treatment of the harp seems at times to evoke the ancient zither, while flutes and oboes embrace the soloist's voice in "Et moi, j'aime la volupté". 
                                             
                                      Michèle Tosi, Res musica December 2, 2019

FBM's passion for ancient Greece focuses here on Sappho, the poetess embodied in Safous Mélè (1958-1959) by a contralto. Marie-George Monet's warm, powerful voice holds its own against flutes, oboes and percussion. A women's choir extends the solo voice with a shimmering harmonic aura, then with polyphonic ramifications. Despite a few passages of spoken word or Sprechgesang, the fluidity of the melody dominates.
                                            Pierre Rigaudière, Diapason, February 2020