No dance, more than the waltz, carries us away with such whirls and twirls, none is more playful and heady, and when slow, so graceful, elegant, oh so melancholy or even so wrenchingly sad...
In this volume, each of the carefully chosen, and sometimes very well known, themes demonstrate this great diversity of style and colour. Moreover, their relative simplicity, in no way of course diminishing their charm and value, will provide musical enjoyment for anyone, as well as the delight and perhaps discovery of this gentle swirling in three four time that has inspired so many great composers (of all sorts) for centuries. We should thank Catherine Ravez and Vincent Charrier, together with their brilliant work, for this gift. Lastly, I hope that all pianists and violinists experience the same pleasure that I felt throughout every page of this inspiring and very charming album.
Patrice Fontanarosa
Translation: Jacqueline Rose

A violin and piano duet invites us to waltz.
Paired, just as for the waltz, but scandalous in the beginning at a time when dancing was considered a purely collective activity.
It acquired both its rhythm and its name (waltzen: to turn) from a German round dance in 3/4, slow originally, then under Austrian influence, lively and quick: the Viennese waltz was born.
Starting in the early 19th century, the great composers joined into the dance: Brahms, Chabrier, Chopin, Fauré, Ravel... to say nothing of the Strauss' brilliant dynasty.
Operetta helped to promote it, songs and then films made it popular. Waltz-Caprice, romantic, sentimental... The waltz, overriding fashion, remains the undisputed sovereign of couple dancing.
Georges Hacquard
Translation: Jacqueline Rose