Jean-Efflam Bavouzet - Ravel: Complete Piano Works '2003

Tracks list

Tracklist

CD1
01. Gaspard de la nuit, 3 poèmes pour piano d'après Aloysius Bertrand: I.
Ondine
02. Gaspard de la nuit, 3 poèmes pour piano d'après Aloysius Bertrand: II.
Le Gibet
03. Gaspard de la nuit, 3 poèmes pour piano d'après Aloysius Bertrand:
III. Scarbo
04. Jeux d'eaux
05. Sonatina: I. Modéré
06. Sonatina: II. Mouvement de menuet
07. Sonatina: III. Animé
08. Miroirs: I. Noctuelles
09. Miroirs: II. Oiseaux tristes
10. Miroirs: III. Une barque sur l'océan
11. Miroirs: IV. Alborada del gracioso
12. Miroirs: V. La vallée des cloches

CD2
01. Le Tombeau de Couperin: I. Prélude
02. Le Tombeau de Couperin: II. Fugue
03. Le Tombeau de Couperin: III. Forlane
04. Le Tombeau de Couperin: IV. Rigaudon
05. Le Tombeau de Couperin: V. Menuet
06. Le Tombeau de Couperin: VI. Toccata
07. Prélude
08. Sérénade grotesque
09. A la manière de ... Borodine. Valse
10. A la manière de ... Emmanuel Chabrier. Paraphrase sur un air de Gounod
11. Menuet antique
12. Menuet sur le nom de Haydn
13. Valses nobles et sentimentales: I. Modéré - très franc
14. Valses nobles et sentimentales: II. Assez lent
15. Valses nobles et sentimentales: III. Modéré
16. Valses nobles et sentimentales: IV. Assez animé
17. Valses nobles et sentimentales: V. Presque lent
18. Valses nobles et sentimentales: VI. Vif
19. Valses nobles et sentimentales: VII. Moins vif
20. Valses nobles et sentimentales: VIII. Epilogue. Lent
21. Pavane pour une infante défunte

Ravel was fastidious composer, slow, deliberate and painstaking about detail.
Consequently his output is relatively small yet exceedingly high in
craftsmanship and musical quality. It may surprise people to know that
Ravel’s total output for solo piano spans just over 130 minutes and the
MDG label have accommodated the complete works on this double CD set played by
the outstanding soloist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.

Ravel’s earliest piano works are dominated by impressionism and it is
generally acknowledged that in 1901 Ravel composed the first ever impressionist
work for piano with Jeux d’eaux (Fountains). The work brought the
composer considerable success and on this release piano soloist Jean-Efflam
Bavouzet makes a fine job of portraying Ravel’s images of the music and
sounds of fountains, waterfalls and streams. The extended arpeggios pitted
against dreamy harmonies are most convincing.

In 1899 Ravel composed his celebrated Pavane pour une infante défunte, which
was conceived as a delicate and tender portrait of old Spain with a sensuous
Debussian flow imposed on an old dance form. The Pavane remains Ravel’s
most popular composition especially in his 1910 orchestration. The sheer sound
that Bavouzet draws from his Steinway D piano manufactured in 1901 is ravishing
and a real highlight.

Composed in 1905, for a competition conducted by a music journal, the three
movement Sonatine is acknowledged as one of Ravel’s finest piano
compositions. Bavouzet is particularly impressive in the surging passion of the
first movement Modéré and the nervous exuberance of the Animé finale.

At nearly thirty minutes in duration Miroirs from 1905 is Ravel’s largest
piano work and also arguably his most daring as he entered a new phase of
development. Bavouzet skilfully moves across to this freer and more varied style
with more extended developments. Ravel uses five pieces which are designed to
reflect their subjects, inspired by external images as mirrored in sound. For
example in the second piece Oiseaux tristes the music is symbolic never
attempting to imitate bird song. Soloist Bavouzet gives a most sensitive
portrait of the extensive palette of colours in Ravel’s musical
description of the changing sea in Une barque sur l’océan.
Bavouzet’s delicate blend of irony and tone painting is impressive and
compelling in the famous Alborada del gracioso.

Originally intended as a musical tribute to the harpsichord music of François
Couperin-le-Grand the celebrated Le Tombeau de Couperin was Ravel’s final
work for solo piano. Composed between 1914 to 1917 Ravel was to dedicate this
set of six pieces in honour of friends that had died in the Great War. Ravel was
further affected by the death of his mother at this time yet there is no trace
of pity or melancholy under the surface of the music. Essentially a
neo-classical work Bavouzet in successful is performing the work with all the
necessary seventeenth century economy and transparency and really communicates a
sense of tranquillity in the spirit of a by-gone age.

In 1908 Ravel was inspired to compose three descriptive pieces for piano by the
poems of Aloysius Bertrand under the collective title of Gaspard de la Nuit. In
this fantasy world of gnomes, elves and ghosts the first piece of the trilogy
Ondine reproduces the sound of water. Le Gibet is a musical portrait of the
gallows and the final piece Scarbo is an ironic scherzo representing a
will-o-the-wisp. Bavouzet makes light work of the technical demands and provides
a spontaneous, almost improvisatory feel of harrowing immediacy.

Franz Schubert’s piano waltzes were the inspiration behind Ravel’s
Valses nobles et sentimentales composed in 1911. The cycle consists of seven
pieces which follow each other directly, with an additional epilogue. With bold
harmonies Bavouzet impressively conveys the rhythms with the pulse and lilt of
the Viennese waltzes.

Bavouzet is clearly in love with this music. He provides the perfect atmosphere
and is consistently impressive in the several shorter works on this release; in
particular the Sérénade grotesque and the Menuet antique.

There are several illustrious alternative versions in the catalogue of the
complete piano works of Ravel which are all highly recommendable. Notably the
sets from heavyweight artistes such as: Pascal Roge on Double Decca 440 836 2;
Louis Lortie on Chandos CHAN 7004/7; Jean-Yves Thibaudet on Decca 433 515-2;
Jean-Philippe Collard on EMI CES5 72376-2 and Angela Hewitt’s recent
survey on Hyperion CDA 67341/2. I have no hesitation in stating that Jean-Efflam
Bavouzet’s masterly interpretations on MDG can stand equally alongside
the very best of these distinguished versions. Bavouzet plays with such
remarkable authority, expressive strength and unadulterated brilliance. The
soloist’s phrasing seems to transcend beyond Ravel’s markings on
the page and allows the musical line to breathe in a natural, almost
conversational way.

Assisted by the splendid sound quality provided by MDG’s natural
acoustics and the comprehensive booklet notes, this recording challenges the
best around. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet is one of France’s best kept secrets.
In fact Bavouzet’s playing is restricted to a most narrow range;
wonderful to superb.

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