Alfred Dubois: Violon

Description

The "Historiques" collection of Musique en Wallonie honors the Verviers violinist Alfred Dubois. As a soloist Dubois performed under prestigious conductors such as Michael Bowles, Charles Munch, Rhene-Baton, Nino Sanzogno, Hermann Scherchen and Felix Weingartner. It is worth emphasizing how energetically he spoke up in favour of Brahms, not only the violin concerto and the double concerto, but also the chamber music. Mention should also be made of his devotion to contemporary music (Pierne, Ravel, Milhaud, Lattuada, Respighi, Szymanowsky, etc.) and Belgian music in particular (Buffin, Quinet, Vreuls, Poot, and Leon and Joseph Jongen, who dedicated to him his Sonata for violin et cello), a devotion to which the present collection of his entire recordings of Belgian music can do only partial justice. Dubois's playing follows the interpretative tradition of his time by employing violinistic features which he nevertheless integrates into his always scrupulous and elegant style. Was it perhaps precisely this restrained approach - sometimes criticised by the reviewers of the day - that paradoxically ensured that his recordings enjoyed greater success than those of many of his contemporaries? In fact the constraints imposed by the recording techniques of the time may in the case of certain players have put a brake on their spontaneity in performing live. To today's listener, Dubois's style is by no means cold or inexpressive. His coherent manner of introducing the flexibility of the 19th century into the context of a sensitive and intuitive reading of the music may even constitute a valuable source of inspiration for violinists at the start of the 21st century.