Composer: Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné
Performer: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Juan José Mena
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Catalogue: CHAN10633
Release: 2011
Size: 1.11 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Album pour mes petits amis, Op. 14
01. VI. Marche des petits soldats de plomb
Piano Concerto in C minor, Op. 12
02. I. Allegro
03. II. Scherzando. Allegro scherzando
04. III. Finale. Allegro un poco agitato
05. Divertissements sur un thème pastoral, Op. 49
Ramuntcho Suite No. 1
06. I. Overture
07. II. Le Jardin de Gracieuse
08. III. La chambre de Franchita
09. IV. Fandango
Ramuntcho Suite No. 2
10. I. La Cidrerie
11. II. Le Couvent
12. III. Rapsodie Basque
This is Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s third concerto CD for Chandos, following on from this year’s highly acclaimed accounts of the Bartók Piano Concertos (CHAN10610) and the Ravel Piano Concertos (CHSA5084). Bavouzet is a true master of the French repertoire as can be seen from his award winning complete Debussy series. He is here accompanied by Juanjo Mena – who will from September 2011 be the Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic – in this, his debut recording on Chandos.
Whilst not now a household name, Pierné was a highly respected and very active composer/conductor in his day as well as a key figure in the French musical establishment (he even has a square named after him in Paris). He received the French Légion d’Honneur in 1900 and, in 1910, conducted the premier of Stravinsky’s The Firebird. A pupil of Franck and Massenet, he wrote music with tremendous fluency and all his works were written with a characteristically light, French touch. His style combines the essence of both his key teachers: there was a mixture of the seriousness of Franck and the sensuality of Massenet, and these elements combined to produce a string of very attractive and tuneful orchestral pieces.
Cast in the traditional three movements, the Piano Concerto was completed in 1886. After an imposing introduction, the classical structure of the movement is imbued with a charm reminiscent of Saint-Saëns. A bright and cheerful Scherzando separates this first movement and the brilliant rondo finale, which uses material heard previously in the concerto.
The Suites from Ramuntcho derive from music he wrote for the play of the same name in 1908 by Pierre Loti. Here the story of the Basque smuggler provided Pierné with plenty of opportunities to imbue his score with vibrant Basque colours and rhythms. Whilst the extended overture to the suites is one of his most successful works, other movements such as the lively Fandango and the final Rapsodie Basque are equally appealing, both in terms of melody and orchestral colour.
However, the composer’s most famous work is the once very popular Marches des Petits Soldats (the March of the Little Lead Soldiers) which enjoyed a great vogue up until recent years. This new recording reveals its catchy-charms to new generations once again.
A revival of the works of Gabriel Pierné has been spearheaded by a handful of dedicated labels that champion unjustly neglected classics, and Chandos has joined them with this fine recording by Juanjo Mena and the BBC Philharmonic of the Piano Concerto in C minor, the two suites of incidental music from Ramuntcho, and two shorter pieces. Pierné’s career extended from the late Romantic era to the early modern, a period spanning roughly 50 years between the belle epoque in France and World War II, so there is a fairly wide range of influences. His early works share features with those of his teachers, César Franck and Jules Massenet, and his later style leans more to his contemporaries, Gabriel Fauré and Claude Debussy; overall, however, his oeuvre is perhaps closest to the music of Camille Saint-Saëns. Whether in the grand form of his Piano Concerto (which was modeled on Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor), the neo-Classical wit of the Divertissements sur un thème pastoral, or in the other picturesque pieces on this album, Pierné’s charming melodies, pristine colors, and vivacious rhythms are often arresting and always memorable. Pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet delivers a robust performance of the concerto that is exciting in the fast sections, but luxuriant in more reflective passages, and the orchestra offers a wonderful palette of sonorities in the accompaniment. Chandos’ reproduction is excellent, offering vivid sonorities, spacious acoustics, and vibrant presence in all of the selections.