RAVEL: Piano Works = Valses nobles et sentimentales; Gaspard de la Nuit; Sonatine; La Valse – Romain Descharmes, piano – Audite multichannel SACD 92.571, 64:41 [Distr. by Naxos starting May 1] *****:
A fine selection of four great Ravel piano works, beautifully played by a young French pianist and presented in excellent surround sonics. (Although surprisingly the original recording is only 44.1K, it was 24 bit instead of 16, and that makes all the difference in enhanced fidelity.)
The eight short sections of the Valses nobles et sentimentales seem like a rather simple introduction to the Ravel recital which will be bookended by the massively orchestral-sounding La Valse at the conclusion. However, it is also complex in its own way – a continuation of the “Swiss watchmaker” style of Ravel’s, creating a unique stylized picture of the waltz, though not nearly as dark and tragic as La Valse.
The three sections of Gaspard de la Nuit – inspired by a series of poems by Aloysius Bertrand – conjure up a strange macabre world such as Edgar Allan Poe’s. The musical recreations of the water sprite, the hanging scaffold, and the threatening dwarf are highly stylized but at the same time chillingly appropriate. Like many of Ravel’s amazing piano works, it seems to cry out for an orchestral version, yet there is none. The work carries the Romantic piano fantasy idea of Liszt, Alkan and others to undreamt-of heights. The Sonatine was the first of Ravel’s piano works using the cyclic design. It looks back to the sonatines of the late 19th century, but uses the most modern tonal language.
The album notes go into the quality of “artificiality” in Ravel’s piano music, and how he was able to create amazing technical perfection and a virtuoso style – often with the simplest of means. 30-year-old pianist Descharmes has performed as a soloist thruout the world and is also an able chamber musician. I didn’t compare his SACD with any other Ravel piano music interpreters but I find his approach perfectly suited to the music.
– John Sunier
