June 18, 2014

  • An Awesome Faure Release from Seattle!

     

    Faure: Orchestral Music
    Demarre McGill, flute.  Alexander Velinzon, violin. Efe Baltacigil, cello.
    Seattle Symphony Chorale, Seattle Symphony/Ludovic Morlot
    Seattle Symphony Media 1004
    Total Time:  70:29
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    Under their new Music Director Ludovic Morlot, the Seattle Symphony has begun releasing a series of new recordings with some wonderfully diverse repertoire.  Of these, two have been reviewed here (the Dutilleux, and a selection of 20th Century American Music).  The unique repertoire choices continue with this disc of music by Gabriel Faure (1845-1925), a composer whose often delicate pieces are among those that bridge the 19th Century to the more modern styles of the early 20th Century.  Some may be most familiar with the composer’s beautiful Requiem which tends to appear in concerts of local choirs frequently.  A few smaller works tend to appear on occasion as well.  Often Faure’s music tends to be part of a larger program of French music.  From a cursory glance of other recordings of Faure’s music in my own library, I find that not one appeared on the same CD!  So, this new disc is a great way to pull a good portion of the composer’s music into one convenient package.  For this program, Morlot has chosen three suites and surrounded them by several miniatures that also highlight the orchestra’s principal players.  The recordings were made between 2011-2013 as the works were included on the orchestra’s season programs

    Faure’s music is always full of delight and grace with flashes of Wagnerian chromaticism in moments of deep emotional response.  But it the clarity of his musical textures often leaves one awestruck and contributes to the sort of magical spell his music weaves on those who chance upon it.  This program opens with one of the more recent works, the Masques et Bergamasques.  Written in 1918 at the height of a Neo-Classical bent coupled with interest in music of the 16th and 17th centuries (i.e., Stravinsky’s Pulcinella), the music has a foot in comedia dell’arte.  The music for this one-act stage piece found second life in a concert suite by the composer.  The music maintains a more modern harmonic style, while using older formal structures (Menuet, Gavotte).  The three dances are preceded by an overture which is recalled in the final “Pastorale”.

    One of the great surrealist dramas of the period was Maeterlinck’s Pelleas et Melisande.  It inspired one of Schoenberg’s first works, an ultra-romantic tone poem; an opera by Debussy; and even resulting incidental music composed by Sibelius.  Faure also provided incidental music for a London production in 1898 and subsequently pulled together a four-movement suite.  The opening “Prelude” has suggestions of Impressionism, but still swirls in gorgeous Romantic writing in big climaxes and delicate solos creating some beautiful moments.  The spinning wheel in the “Sicilienne” is one of many beautiful highlights in this excellent perfect performance.

    The final larger suite here I from Dolly, a collection of six short pieces “for children” that he wrote between 1894-1897.  Incidentally, the work’s title refers to the daughter of Faure’s lover, Emma Bardac (who would later marry Debussy).  Faure often enjoyed Helene Bardac’s manner and play which inspired the work, later orchestrated in 1906 by Henri Rambaud.  The music tends to feature long, drawn out lyrical lines with delicate writing that is at times wistful and playful.  The concluding Spanish dance is perhaps the most delightfully engaging movements.

    There are four shorter works interspersed in this program.  The first of these is the beautiful Fantasie for Flute (1898).  Originally composed as an examination piece at the Paris Conservatoire, this brief work has found a second life as a delightful solo miniature displaying the soloist’s virtuosity, but with a simply beautiful opening lyric idea that moves interestingly chromatically.  The piece is heard here in an arrangement by Yoav Talmi.  The less heard Berceuse (1880/1889) was in its day quite popular.  It is one of many small jewels with expressive writing for the solo violin.  It is heard here in its orchestral accompaniment version.  The cello Elegie (1880) was originally intended to be the slow movement of a cello sonata which Faure eventually abandoned and in 1895 orchestrated the accompaniment for what has become one of the standard works in the cello repertoire and receives a touching performance here.  Of equally great interest is the concluding work on the disc, the Pavane (1887).  One of the composer’s most gorgeous and well-known works (bearing resemblance to music in the earlier Pelleas suite), some may be less aware that words were also once attached to the piece.  These texts by poet Robert de Montesquiou were then layed onto the orchestral score adding a bit more nuance to the melody.  The piece is a wonderful example of the composer’s sense of line and tone color.

    Morlot gets at the seductive quality of this music by shaping the melodic ideas so very well.  He lets the music unfold naturally in the more dance-like sections without losing some of the sheen of the style.  The orchestra is simply magnificent throughout providing what may very well be among definitive performances of this music.  The solo works are equally accomplished showing off the sensitive approach to this music such that the virtuoso passages feel more integrated into the works as a whole.  By combining these many smaller pieces with the larger suites, one gets a real sense at Faure’s style.  You will not find a better recording of Faure’s music, nor so much of the primary pieces in one place.  While it will not replace my older Ernst Ansermet performances, the sound and quality of this release make it an easy place to start for anyone looking to explore this wonderful music.  The solo works are superbly realized with perfect placement and imaging of orchestra and soloist without any drastic volume loss.  Highly recommended.