CD Review | Tribute to François Dompierre (ATMA Classique, 2023)

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Hommage à François Dompierre
Louise Bessette, piano; François Dompierre, composer and piano
ATMA Classique, 2023

We rarely hear Louise Bessette in this light. To celebrate François Dompierre’s 80th birthday, the pianist offers us arrangements of film music, and other selections, all of which played a role in establishing the reputation of the Quebec composer, himself a pianist. “Most are piano reductions (…); others are adaptations of radio improvisations. Finally, a few were written especially for her, and are dedicated to her,” explains the composer, in the album’s booklet. These include Entre mer et chanterelles, written in honour of his former music theory teacher Gilles Tremblay and recorded for the first time; plus a piano arrangement of La beauté du diable created for Bessette. The album opens with a theme and variations from the soundtrack of the film L’âme à la tendresse. From the outset, Bessette demonstrates her technical ease, bringing out the full romantic texture of the composition. Un bonheur d’occasion is special, as it is a duet with the composer himself. Dompierre freely improvises a melody in the upper register, while Bessette’s playing serves as
an anchor, with clockwork-like rhythm. With its characteristic charm, it’s certainly one of the jazziest pieces on the album. In the album’s other duet, Le temps qui fuit, a Handelian theme quickly gives way to two impressionist variations, reminiscent of Debussy (similarly to Évocation ravélienne, a few tracks further on). This delightful referencing of canonical repertoire is echoed in Facéties sur un prélude de Bach, in which jazz influence borders on contemporary music. The Sonatine pour Anna, meanwhile, is definitively Mozart-inspired, presenting yet another facet of Dompierre’s work. The rest of the album, often melancholic, is just as charming.