Home listening: Mirage by Marc André

Mirage by Marc André (Warner Classics)

Marc André (b.2002), French-born, raised in a musical family in Vienna, is the first solo double bass player “in history” (where history begins is a question we’ll set aside for now) to sign an exclusive contract with Warner Classics. 

In his debut album, Mirage, his engaging duo partners are either the pianist Véronique Patricia Teruel (who is his mother) or the French guitarist Gabriel Bianco. André has made his own arrangements of, mostly, well-known short works: Dvořák’s Songs My Mother Taught Me, Schumann’s Träumerei, Debussy’s Clair de Lune and the like. His elegant phrasing, sweet tone and natural musicality mark him out as a serious performer, already the recipient of many rising-talent awards. He offers the range of colour we expect of a cello but perhaps, out of ignorance, not from a bass. There’s a relentlessly dreamy feel to the repertoire that can sound playlist-samey and may not suit all moods, but it’s impeccably done. 

Warner has a track record when it comes to finding the next new thing in classical. Dazzling talent, youth and, ideally, beauty are no longer enough. Obligations now include social media posts – moody videos, sultry photos – vertically coiffed hair, tight vests, expensive styling and, preferably, a novel talent greater than anything AI may dream up. Warner succeeded with the Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński, a supreme artist but also a skilled breakdancer (when I Googled him, I got “sex symbol”, so something is going right for someone). André, who ticks all the above boxes, needn’t reveal his extracurriculars; being a solo classical bassist is singular enough.

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast 

How many of Beethoven’s 16 string quartets end in a major key? One. Opus 59, No 2. That nugget comes from the American conductor and violinist Joshua Weilerstein in his weekly podcast Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast. He calls it trivia, but it’s seriously intriguing if you happen to be interested in Beethoven. The podcast’s format is simple but he delves deep, with knowledge and passion.

Photograph by Zeb Daemen