Mandoline: Dans les salons fin-de-siècle

Late 19th-century Paris was swept by a wave of desire for the exotic — Javanese gamelan, for instance, bowled Debussy over at the 1889 Paris exhibition. Another object of desire was the sun-drenched Mediterranean, especially Italy and Spain, Bizet’s Carmen being a famous remnant. Mandolins were part of the vogue. La Ragione performs both pieces originally written for mandolin and reclaims some imaginary mandolin music, with the occasional collaboration of soprano Sandrine Piau. In addition to excavating some good pieces (Cécile Chaminade’s “Havanaise,” for instance) he effectively presents the mandolin as a major character in the fin-de-siècle scene, supported in no small part by his magnificent instruments and tones.