Thirty-year-old Théo Fouchenneret, a native of Nice, is a graduate of the conservatoires there and in Paris. His second recording for La Dolce Volta is devoted to Fauré’s 13 Nocturnes. Fouchenneret’s fascination with Fauré dates from childhood, when he dreamed of playing the composer with his older violinist brother. Later he won first prize at the Fauré Competition in Pamiers (Ariège), the composer’s home town.

Even in the early Nocturnes, Fouchenneret’s approach is one of tremendous delicacy of touch, luxurious sensuality and vivid contrasts. He seems in perfect sympathy with Fauré’s every expressive gesture and is particularly adept at differentiating between principal and accompanying textures. When a certain yearning urgency is called for, as for instance in the middle of the Third Nocturne, Fouchenneret captures it perfectly, with an uncanny sense of precisely the correct proportion. When a piece speaks of satisfaction, comfort and delight, as does the Fourth Nocturne, Fouchenneret achieves the perfect sonic equivalent, with what seem to be qualities of discernment and wisdom well beyond his years.

In the later, more austere Nocturnes, Fouchenneret’s sense of proportion and exquisite phrasing are inerrant. Even the most harmonically ambiguous of these pieces never loses direction. Each arrives at its conclusion with an inescapable sense of inevitability. Fauré’s textures, which in other hands can seem opaque, here are rendered with admirable clarity. The Thirteenth Nocturne from 1921, Fauré’s farewell to the piano, is played with the utmost simplicity and thereby achieves an eloquence both profound and heartfelt.

This welcome contribution to the celebration of Fauré’s centenary will likely leave you eager to experience more of Fouchenneret’s artistry.