五位年輕頂級的女弦樂家團聚在一起, 散發出共通的氣質與相似處 , 虛幻的深度和一種尖銳的幽默感: 這是小提琴家吉妮耶.露芳索(Genevieve Laurenceau)構想組成的百分之百女性合奏團(火辣的約瑟芬)弦樂五重奏的挑戰性願景, 提供`創造力與探索的空間`來培育此經驗豐富的弦樂五重奏.

此專輯是露芳索與她的團員 - 小提琴家奧莉維亞.休斯, 中提琴家瑪莉.席蓮, 大提琴家艾敏.露姚, 低音大提琴家蘿涵.杜韓特.埃斯托佛 - 特殊的百鍊成金磨練的結果. 團員們每個都是管弦樂團或室內樂合奏團中知名的獨奏家. 她們的首張CD是獻給愛情.

這五位藝術家收錄這世界間具有溫暖的聲音特性, 豐富的抒情風格和動態的節奏脈動等等永恆的旋律主題: 專輯節目像一趟旅途中令人驚奇的探索, 經過多種風格和時期並全面涵蓋了控制心情這種情緒的各種面向. 我們可為普羅高菲夫的(羅密歐與茱麗葉)和伯恩斯坦的(西城故事)中狂熱的愛情而感到激動, 還有李斯特, 蕭邦, 克萊斯勒和艾爾加溫柔浪漫愛情的遐想, 聖桑敘述恐怖的愛情與法雅被迷惑的愛情


Five young women, all top-flight string players, united in a single voice, radiating temperamental sympathies and similarities, deceptive depths, and a caustic sense of humour: this is the challenging vision of Smoking Josephine, the 100% feminine ensemble dreamt up by violinist Genevieve Laurenceau as a `space for
creativity and exploration`, to develop the sophisticated opulence of the string quintet.
The present album is the result of the special alchemy between Genevieve and her team –
Olivia Hughes (violin), Marie Chilemme (viola), Hermine Horiot (cello) and Laurene
Durantel Helstroffer (double bass), all acclaimed soloists in their own right, in orchestras and chamber ensembles. This, their very first CD, they have dedicated to Love.
The five artists embody this universal, timeless theme with their characteristic warmth of
sound, generous lyricism, and dynamic rhythmic pulse: their programme unfolds like a voyage with surprising discoveries en route, passing through many styles and periods and covering the full range, the many faces of this emotion that rules the heart. We can thrill to the passionate love of Prokofiev`s Romeo and
Juliet and Bernstein`s West Side Story, the tender romantic reveries of Liszt, Chopin,
Kreisler and Elgar, the ghoulish love depicted by Saint-Saëns, the bewitched love of de Falla
… This quintet, with its unconventional contrabass, has had each of its scores specially
made to measure, in arrangements that are the last word in haute couture.