This warm sound! These multiple colors! Can this really be a trumpet? Played as freely and laid-back as by Lucienne Renaudin Vary, the instrument hasn't been heard since Chet Baker. "The trumpet is my voice," says the young Frenchwoman. The secret of her unique tone might lie in the fact that she feels equally at home in both jazz and classical music. She often blends both styles in her programs. A delightful pairing here is Ravel’s mesmerizingly colorful string quartet and Karol Beffa’s rhapsodic, jazzy Intrada. Alongside, the baroque richness of Neruda’s famous trumpet concerto. Magnifique!

The name Neruda immediately evokes Pablo, but the musical Neruda takes us to baroque Dresden. Johann Baptist Georg Neruda, originally from Bohemia, spent many years as composer, violinist, and conductor of the Dresdener Hofkapelle. Trumpet players owe him one of the most beautiful concertos of the pre-classical period.

It was a time of upheaval. While Goethe wrote Götz von Berlichingen in 1772 in Frankfurt, the youngest Bach son composed six symphonies in Hamburg at the request of Baron van Swieten. His instructions were clear: "to give himself free rein, without concern for the difficulties of execution." Indeed, the melodies chase one another in baroque tradition, interspersed with the sensitive melodies of the emerging classical style.

One reads Karol Beffa’s biography with astonishment: born in 1973, he was a child actor, performing in numerous roles until the age of twelve. Alongside music, he completed a general studies program and attended one of France’s elite schools, studying history, English, philosophy, and mathematics. At the Paris Conservatoire, he was awarded eight first prizes in various disciplines. We primarily know him as a gifted composer. For Lucienne, he composed a three-movement, lively Intrada, which feels like a natural extension of Ravel’s free-flowing style. Rhapsodic and jazzy, full of vibrant rhythm, the trumpet and strings are in perfect dialogue. It goes straight to the heart, with jazz-influenced melodies weaving through.

In this way, Beffa has practically written the Intrada for Lucienne Renaudin Vary. Having studied both classical music and jazz, she was discovered early on by Rolando Villazon in the Stars of Tomorrow program. Her tone immediately stands out: looser, more relaxed, and warmer than most others. She often speaks of "singing on the trumpet." At just 17, she signed an exclusive contract with Warner and now combines classical, jazz, and tango in her albums in a colorful way.

Ravel’s only string quartet follows the tradition of Debussy and merges different styles, such as rhapsodic and Basque dance rhythms, with classical elements. In this work, he ventures for the first time into a completely individual musical language, which will later make his style unmistakable. Although the Prix de Rome was denied him despite protests from Romain Rolland, he has found his place in music history.