LDV71

XAVIER PHILLIPS & ANNE GASTINEL 17 whatever it may be. We basically have the same kind of aesthetic, even if we put it across differently; that’s why we can agree musically. Xavier was the initiator of a project that led us to immerse ourselves in a musical universe like no other. Offenbach achieves an almost perfect balance between something very light, very simple in the good sense of the word, and an incredible profundity, an incredible beauty. We remarked on that to each other every time we played one of the slow movements. I already knew these duos, but to immerse myself in them again with a view to recording allowed me to rediscover them, and particularly to identify a delicacy, a poetry and, I repeat, a profundity, that are infinitely appealing and which we don’t automatically associate with pieces too often considered as merely virtuosic. How did you choose among the duos? Xavier Phillips: We soon eliminated the first letters – which are teaching pieces intended for students – but we didn’t necessarily focus only on wildly difficult things. We selected the second duo of letter F, the most famous and charismatic of Offenbach’s duos, but we preferred to forget about the less inspired nos.1 and 3. On the other hand, we recorded the three duos of letter E, which I didn’t know very well before embarking on this recording project andwithwhich I literally fell in love. With the duos of letters C and D, this programme gives a fairly complete idea of what Offenbach can offer on the cello. It was the musical aspect that guided us above all.