Composer: Paul Dukas, Albert Roussel
Orchestra: Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire
Conductor: Pascal Rophé
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BIS
Release: 2019
Size: 965 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Paul Dukas:
01. Polyeucte Overture
Albert Roussel:
Le festin de l’araignée, Op. 17, L. 19
02. I. Prélude. Un jardin
03. II. Entrée des fourmis
04. IIIa. Entrée des bousiers
05. IIIb. Danse du papillon
06. IV. Danse de l’araignée
07. V. Entrée des vers de fruit
08. VI. Entrée guerrière de deux mantes religieuses
09. VII. Danse de l’araignée
10. VIII. Eclosion de l’éphémère
11. IX. Danse de l’éphémère
12. X. Danse de l’éphémère et des vers de fruit
13. XI. Agonie de l’araignée01:39
14. XII. Funérailles de l’éphémère
Paul Dukas:
15. L’apprenti sorcier
You would think it was the opening of a German-language romantic drama. In fact, this was exactly the criticism aimed at Paul Dukas after his creation of Polyeucte – Ouverture pour une tragédie de Corneille at the Concerts Lamoureux in 1892: not very ars gallica at all. This great score does indeed employ a lyricism which the Bayreuth cantor has led us to associate with the forests of German legend — not with Corneille’s alexandrine. Thus, the desolate tonality of the first few measures, a brilliant unison of violas and cellos, has both the sobriety and the emphasis of a Wagnerian leitmotif. It’s a shame that this work, a masterclass in harmonies and orchestration, is so rarely played in concert — L’Apprenti Sorcier on the other hand, last on this tracklist, had the good fortune of receiving a large part of Dukas’ production as well as a cinematographic boost with Disney’s Fantasia.
The National Orchestra of the Pays de la Loire and their conductor Pascal Rophé continue their exploration of works from the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with a score certainly very French at first glance: Albert Roussel’s ballet Le Festin de l’araignée (The Spider’s Feast) composed in 1913 just before Debussy’s Jeux. An opulent piece of music, it transports the listener… to a patch of grass: the luxuriance of the bells, often treated as a solo act, serves as a microscope to the mysterious world of our gardens. Inspired by the Souvenirs entomologiques (Entomological memoirs) by Jean-Henri Fabre, this pantomime with an enchanting prelude tells the story of a tiny spider who’s daily life ends in tragedy.
From one inspiration (Corneille) to another (Fabre then Goethe), Pascal Rophé leads his orchestra as if they were playing an altogether contemporary work: with the precision of a goldsmith. The music label, Bis, is doing beautiful work here, in both the choice of music and the artistic direction.