HARMONIA MUNDI PIANO WEEKEND
ALINE PIBOULE, PIANO
ARCHIPEL
IRELAND | Decorations
FAURÉ | Improvisation, Op. 84, No. 5
Nocturne No. 12, Op. 107
Nocturne No. 13, Op. 119
DEBUSSY | La mer (transcription for solo piano by Yann Ollivo)
Since the beginning of her career, Aline Piboule has offered audiences much more than a traditional recital. By blending eras and repertoires, she passionately explores musical worlds that intersect and enrich one another, creating subtle mirror effects that invite the listener to experience the music in a new way.
A maritime dialogue between two modern composers: this is Aline Piboule’s latest challenge. At the heart of the program, *La Mer* unfolds its myriad hues without an orchestra, as if the work had been written from the outset for solo piano, much like *Un cahier d’esquisses* or the famous *Clair de lune*! Echoing this, John Ireland’s triptychs *Sarnia* and *Decorations* weave a sonic archipelago of spellbinding poetry.
Her latest album, *Archipel* (Harmonia Mundi, 2026), is described by Alain Cochard as “a truly great album,” “a punch of beauty ” (Concertclassic), and has been praised for the “exemplary coherence” of its program and the richness of its sonic palette. This recording has received major accolades in the specialized press: 4 TTTT from Télérama, ResMusica’s “Key of the Month,” 5 Diapasons, and “Album of the Week” from the German magazine Rondo… International critics have also highlighted the uniqueness of her artistic approach: Patrick Rucker in the British magazine Gramophone describes Aline Piboule as “a program curator who is as gifted as she is imaginative” and does not hesitate to call her a “revelation,” praising the “extraordinary finesse and delicacy” of her playing as well as a true pianistic “tour de force” in the way she overcomes the repertoire’s most daunting challenges.
“Aline Piboule’s recitals stand out for the uniqueness and coherence of their programs. She constructs each program by blending well-known works with lesser-known gems of the repertoire, revealing unexpected connections”—Le Monde.
“Her previous recordings have confirmed it: pianist Aline Piboule possesses the art of well-crafted programs as much as she does that of the keyboard” – Télérama
