Après un rêve – Belle Époque Nights at the Piano Poulenc: Les Soirées de Nazelles; Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit; plus works by Chaminade, Debussy, Duparc, Fauré and Saint-Saëns Emmanuel Despax (piano) Signum Classics SIGCD747 82:09 mins
This attractive album combines a range of 20th-century French works from the deeply familiar to the barely known. Despax is a fine transcriber, and I loved Fauré’s song ‘Après un rêve’ in the pianist’s own sumptuous, Liszt-inspired arrangement.
Poulenc’s Les Soirées de Nazelles was a welcome discovery to me, a suite of musical portraits which emerged from long convivial events in the country with friends. From witty to tender to dramatic, these attractive vignettes glow and sparkle. The touch in ‘Le contentement de soi’ (‘Self-satisfaction’) is brilliant, pinging and metallic, while the following ‘Le goût du malheur’ (‘The taste of ill-fortune’) is fragile and translucent. Numerous technical difficulties are tackled effortlessly. The form – variations with a cadence and virtuosic finale – is intriguing.
After a winsome rendition of Debussy’s much-loved ‘Clair de Lune’, the Liszt-Horowitz transcription of Saint-Saëns‘s famous Danse macabre is a very over-egged pudding. A triumvirate of flamboyant pianists lavishing energy on such a slight melody somewhat undoes the superb effect of the Poulenc, though Despax does all he can to make it work. Chaminade’s beautifully crafted Nocturne acts as a palate-cleanser, and I would have welcomed more of her music. The album closes with a nicely paced and exquisitely coloured account of Ravel’s Gaspard and Duparc’s (slightly laboured) Aux étoiles. Despax is a formidable pianist, thoughtful and imaginative. Like an expert painter at the canvas, he carefully layers and tones sound, expertly measuring touch and pedal. This is beautiful playing, on an elegant yet substantial album.
Natasha Loges
