CD – Classical guitarist Thibault Cauvin has released a new double CD, and hopes to reach a wide audience.
If you were to search for a classical guitarist with the perfect resume, look no further than Thibault Cauvin: he won thirteen first prizes in international competitions, and has given more than a thousand concerts from China to Africa, from New York’s Carnegie Hall and to the Flâneries Musicales in Reims. But what makes him unique? His background. Cauvin grew up in Bordeaux, a city known for its rock scene. His father – a guitarist with the local band Uppsala – dreamed of a fusion between rock, jazz and the avant-garde. “As a child, I never felt a barrier between the conservatory and my father’s crazy rock! Music was sensual first and foremost, not intellectual. This album comes from the desire to bring together the public, wherever they’re from. I have the perfect instrument for that: everyone has an intimate memory of a moment with a guitar.”
Sony Music gave him carte blanche, and the result is this double CD. The first is a series of new recordings, the second includes repertoire he has already recorded, as Thibault Cauvin has released 7 albums since his debut. The compilation includes a Spanish dance by De Falla, a Gymnopédie by Satie, an aria by JS Bach, and a magnificent composition by his father, Philippe, called “To infinity, for my mother.” Each time, the guitar virtuoso seeks a pure sound, free from extraneous noise “to preserve the charm of the guitar, while searching for the clarity of a piano.” The young thirty-year-old also goes full-throttle on the marketing side, as shown by a recent partnership with the dancers of the Paris Opera for a promotional video. “Most classical musicians forget the visual side of things, the presentation, because they think that what they have to offer is already a gift.”
Thibault Cauvin, a Sony double CD, 18 euros
Article originally published on 1 November 2015 in Le Parisien.
