French vocalist-clarinetist Isabelle Duthoit and Austrian trumpeter Franz Hautzinger are partners in music and life. They live in the French countryside, in Morvan, and near lush green forests, a place that Hautzinger calls «paradise». Dans Le Morvan is the second duo album of Duthoit and Hautzinger, following Lily (which was also released by Relative Pitch, 2017. They collaborated on many other projects), and was recorded in celebration of Hautzinger’s 60th birthday at GMEA – Centre National de Création Musicale in Albi – Tarn in February 2021. Duthoit took the cover photo.
The eleven pixie-like and highly ethereal duets offer an intimate and highly imaginative musical conversation and stories of two creative and restless musicians who never stop attempting to experiment and enrich their sonic palette. Obviously, both Duthoit and Hautzinger, who play quarter-tone trumpet, employ some extreme, extended breathing and vocal techniques, but the focus is not on their impressive command of the inventive techniques.
These duets are titled after the beautiful, natural landscapes of Morvan and tell beautifully and gently about all aspects of a loving relationship. Viennese sound artist Angélica Castelló contributed liner notes and quotes Argentinian writer Julio Cortázar who wrote: «One cronpio is a flower. Two are a garden». And, indeed, Duthoit and Hautzinger invite the listeners into a magical tour of their labyrinthian garden and its many wondrous sounds, It is a sensual and seductive garden, funny and eccentric, mysterious and surrealist, so human but quite otherworldly.
Duthoit and Hautzinger succeed in defying our conventional understanding of music. As Castelló observes, Dans Le Morvan is an amalgam of poetry, fluidity, freedom and surprise. «As archeologists of sound, their improvisation is a continuous exploration of the unknown», she Castelló. «The boundaries between each instrument’s different techniques and language dissolve, giving rise to an atmosphere that traps us in listening».
Dans Le Morvan is a fantastic and emotional garden of delights for the ear.
Eyal Hareuveni
Isabelle Duthoit (clarinet, voice), Franz Hautzinger (quarter-tone trumpet)
