3 x vinyl + booklet – Code

Accompanied by a 12-page booklet, featuring a written contribution from Etienne Menu along with a series of explanatory texts introducing each individual work, this triple vinyl release from Jérémie Arcache and Leonardo Ortega, aka code, grabs the listener’s attention with a refined aural exploration finely balanced between the edges of new classical and electronic music. The two musicians worked with an orchestra and three electronic producers (Superpoze, Canblaster and Bachar Mar-Khalifé) to reinterpret three well-known pieces by Marin Marais, Johannes Brahms and Claude Debussy respectively. The structure used is quite linear. In the first movement, the initial work is recorded by the soloist, in the second it is then reinterpreted by code together with the orchestra, while in the third, the textures – thanks to further collaborations – are distinctly electronic yet still connect to their precedents. There are nine tracks, starting with Marin Marais and her ‘Première suite en la mineur, 5ème livre: Prélude en Harpègement’, whose interpretation by Robin Pharo is vibrant and melancholy. It then evolves into the next movement, in which the orchestra creates an airy and ambient feeling. ‘Intermezzo Op. 119 No. 1’ by Johannes Brahm is a piano classic, performed here by Joël Soichez, an artist appreciated for his versatility of style and technique, which is evident in this gentle interpretation. It’s not the first time the piece is arranged by this charismatic ensemble, although this time Archace and Ortega wonderfully express all of the score’s potential, with beautiful sequences full of variance and shade. It is left to Cédric Steffens, aka Canblaster, to provide a more contemporary and vibrant version, renouncing his electronic dance vocation and showing that he can free himself, even in more authorial and sensitive territories. The game ends with ‘Syrinx, Mouvement’ by Claude Debussy, under the care of Anna Besson. This is a piece that lends itself well to different solo interpretations with wind instruments (let’s all recall Giacinto Scelsi ‘For Tenor Sax’ from 1956), and here is transformed into an orchestral form that plays a lot with percussion. Lastly, it is Bachar Mar-Khalifé who creates repetitive, exotic and introverted passages. ‘Modern classical’ is a rapidly expanding field that recovers sentimental impulses that can easily be combined with minimalist aesthetic elegance. Phonographies, Vol. 01​-​02​-​03 is an excellent example of these trends, a new way of conceiving instrumental music that is the result of the legacy of the great masters.

 

code – Phonographies, Vol. 01​-​02​-​03