The Electric Recording Company.

Gabriel Urbain Fauré (1845–1924) was born into a cultured but not especially musical family. Despite his early musical promise he led a life punctuated by the demands of teaching and church music, leaving him scant time for his own compositions. Initially trained at the École Niedermeyer in Paris where he studied under Camille Saint-Saëns, Fauré emerged from these formative years to become an influential figure in French music, eventually directing the Paris Conservatoire. Even at the peak of his success he often retreated to the countryside for precious summer weeks devoted to composing. By his final years Fauré was celebrated as the leading French composer of his generation.

Germaine Thyssens-Valentin (1902–1987) a Dutch-born pianist with a remarkable affinity for French music embodies an interpreter uniquely attuned to Fauré‘s nuanced world. Beginning her piano studies following her father’s death, she quickly distinguished herself making her performance debut at age eight. By thirteen she had entered the Conservatoire de Paris under Fauré’s directorship securing the Conservatoire‘s premier piano prize just a few years later. Thyssens-Valentin eventually became the first pianist to perform Fauré’s entire piano oeuvre in concert.

Fauré’s Nocturnes often perceived as subdued or melancholy, contain profound depths and even darkness that many interpreters overlook. Thyssens-Valentin’s interpretations however capture the subtle complexities of this music bringing forth its underlying emotional tension without overstating its delicate expressivity. Her recordings here made for the Ducretet-Thomson label illuminate these pieces with a rare clarity, lifting a veil that often shrouds Fauré’s more elusive works. Thyssens-Valentin’s haunting, unforgettable performance draws listeners closer to the heart of Fauré’s world, establishing her recording as one of the definitive piano interpretations of the 20th century.

Cut directly from the original analog master tapes, through our unique all valve 1965 Ortofon / Lyrec vinyl cutting system in True Mono*. No equalisation, compression or any other processing was added during the cutting process.

All sleeve artwork made by hand and authentically letter-pressed on a 1963 Heidelberg SB.

This edition of 99 copies is priced at £1495.00 UK pounds. Order here.

*Where everything in the chain from the tape head, the tape pre-amplifier, the cutting amplifier and the dedicated mono cutter head is a single channel pathway: This early technology avoids phase issues (smearing of the sound) that is frequently encountered when cutting with todays dual” or “pseudo” mono cutting systems