LDV71

XAVIER PHILLIPS & ANNE GASTINEL 19 Anne Gastinel: In any case, this music is beautifully written and it shows the cello off to best advantage, both in its melodic dimension and in its potential for virtuosity. We are both convinced that the great difficulty of these duos lies not only in the ‘somersaults’ we both have to do, but also in the accompaniment of the partner who performs those somersaults. There’s a constant exchange between the moments of technical prowess and the moments when you’re accompanying; in my opinion, that alternation is the most complicated thing to get right. You quickly realise that it is sometimes more difficult to accompany the other player than to take centre stage. Xavier Phillips: You have to be in a sharing mode, and that’s probably where Offenbach shows himself to be an innovator. We’re not dealing with a classic soloist/accompanist scheme but with an incessant give-and-take. As Anne quite rightly said, it’s very difficult to accompany; it isn’t only a question of being discreet – that’s the least you can do – but also of knowing how to intervene in a ‘moderate’ way, of finding the little detail that will give the partner energy and rhythm and help him or her to move forward. That’s what makes these duos so attractive: the person who’s accompanying contributes as much vivacity and punch – and has as much ‘fun’ – as the one who’s busy coping with the diabolical difficulties.