Constellations

Founded ten years ago, the Ensemble Ouranos is today considered one of the best wind quintets in the world. For this new recording, their first for Alpha Classics, Mathilde, Arnaud, Amaury, Philibert, Rafael, and Nicolas have compiled composers and works that are particularly close to their hearts: Maurice Ravel's "Le Tombeau de Couperin" celebrates the French wind school, and Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8, in a transcription by David Walter, fascinates the ensemble. Both works have one thing in common: they are tributes, as Ravel composed his in honor of his friends who died in the war, and Shostakovich composed his in honor of the victims of the Second World War. Another tribute – a slightly lighter one – is paid to summer with Barber's magnificent Summer Music, the only original piece for wind quintet on this album. Added to this are Ravel's famous Pavane and an arrangement of the poignant Élégie from Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nicolas Ramez.