Ravel Works for Piano Duet
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Maurice Ravel
Label: CRD
Magazine Review Date: 3/1991
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 49
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: CRD3424
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (La) Valse |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Alexander Tamir, Piano Bracha Eden, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer |
| Rapsodie espagnole |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Alexander Tamir, Piano Bracha Eden, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer |
| Ma mère l'oye |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Alexander Tamir, Piano Bracha Eden, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer |
Composer or Director: Maurice Ravel
Label: Chandos
Magazine Review Date: 3/1991
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 65
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CHAN8905
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Rapsodie espagnole |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Hélène Mercier, Piano Louis Lortie, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer |
| Boléro |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Hélène Mercier, Piano Louis Lortie, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer |
| Ma mère l'oye |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Hélène Mercier, Piano Louis Lortie, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer |
| Introduction and Allegro for flute, clarinet, harp |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Hélène Mercier, Piano Louis Lortie, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer |
| (La) Valse |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Hélène Mercier, Piano Louis Lortie, Piano Maurice Ravel, Composer |
Author: Christopher Headington
A critic should have no preconceived opinions about a performance, but I confess that the conjunction of the names Ravel and Lortie gave me pleasurable anticipation. It hasn't been disappointed, for this excellent Quebecois pianist and his compatriot Helene Mercier (who have played as a duo since their student days) are very stylish in this music. Ma mere l'oye is delicately tender in just the right way, and the pianists are rightly not afraid occasionally to ''envelop the music in pedal'', to borrow a phrase Ravel marked elsewhere, e.g. in ''Laideronette, imperatrice des pagodes'' with its gamelan sounds. The Beauty and the Beast dialogue moves on rather urgently (it lasts 50 seconds longer with Eden and Tamir), which gives it a likeable extra frisson, while the final ''Jardin feerique'' is as paradisal in pianistic terms as anyone could wish. All this, and what follows, is helped by a superb recording made in The Maltings, Snape under the direction of Ralph Couzens, wonderfully detailed yet atmospheric and allowing the merest effleurement of the keys to tell along with the bigger moments.
The Rapsodie espagnole is all of a piece with the artists' refined approach, and though some might choose to have it more overtly sensual, say in the ''Malaguena'', I found this performance, too, to be very satisfying. Indeed, the whole programme is finely done, and though many collectors who already possess these pieces in orchestral form (or chamber in the case of the Introduction and Allegro, where there is a small, forgivable lapse of ensemble at 3'41'') may see no especial need to have them as piano music, it is one that gives great pleasure. I'm glad, too, that Lortie and Mercier include the Bolero, which at their taut tempo (broadened momentarily at the famous change to E major) works surprisingly well, for it does not appear in the Ravel programmes of Eden and Tamir and the excellent Stephen Coombs and Christopher Scott (Gamut Classics (CD) GAMCD517, 2/91). The glowing, sumptuous nightmare that is La valse is realized with kaleidoscopic tonal range and daringly expressionistic rubato: to borrow a phrase from Myfanwy Piper, this tremendous performance has ''frenzy god-inspired''. Incidentally, the last three works listed above are played on two pianos in the composer's own transcriptions.
The Eden and Tamir programme dates from 1983 and in its own right it gives a good deal of satisfaction. Nevertheless they and CRD have been unfortunate in that it appears alongside that of Lortie and Mercier; while the playing is musicianly and the recording has plenty of impact, the new Chandos issue is superior on both counts and also offers two other works for a similar price. Here La valse is played much more slowly (15'26'' as against 11'23''!), which creates and then sustains a different atmosphere that is compelling in its own way, but after Lortie and Mercier seems low in voltage. Although this is perhaps a small point, I'm also not sure if it was a good idea to place this piece at the start of the programme, with the gentleMa mere l'oye coming last, for after La valse, I at least expect to be metaphorically left flat on my back and more likely to be gasping for air than wanting more music. Similarly, Eden and Tamir lack abandon in the final ''Feria'' of the Rapsodie espagnole, which here lasts two minutes longer than with Lortie and Mercier. Conversely, their ''Jardin feerique'' seems just a trifle brisk. In all, this is a very acceptable disc, but it is not distinguished in the way that the new Chandos one is.'
The Rapsodie espagnole is all of a piece with the artists' refined approach, and though some might choose to have it more overtly sensual, say in the ''Malaguena'', I found this performance, too, to be very satisfying. Indeed, the whole programme is finely done, and though many collectors who already possess these pieces in orchestral form (or chamber in the case of the Introduction and Allegro, where there is a small, forgivable lapse of ensemble at 3'41'') may see no especial need to have them as piano music, it is one that gives great pleasure. I'm glad, too, that Lortie and Mercier include the Bolero, which at their taut tempo (broadened momentarily at the famous change to E major) works surprisingly well, for it does not appear in the Ravel programmes of Eden and Tamir and the excellent Stephen Coombs and Christopher Scott (Gamut Classics (CD) GAMCD517, 2/91). The glowing, sumptuous nightmare that is La valse is realized with kaleidoscopic tonal range and daringly expressionistic rubato: to borrow a phrase from Myfanwy Piper, this tremendous performance has ''frenzy god-inspired''. Incidentally, the last three works listed above are played on two pianos in the composer's own transcriptions.
The Eden and Tamir programme dates from 1983 and in its own right it gives a good deal of satisfaction. Nevertheless they and CRD have been unfortunate in that it appears alongside that of Lortie and Mercier; while the playing is musicianly and the recording has plenty of impact, the new Chandos issue is superior on both counts and also offers two other works for a similar price. Here La valse is played much more slowly (15'26'' as against 11'23''!), which creates and then sustains a different atmosphere that is compelling in its own way, but after Lortie and Mercier seems low in voltage. Although this is perhaps a small point, I'm also not sure if it was a good idea to place this piece at the start of the programme, with the gentle
Ravel Works for Piano Duet
Ravel Works for Piano Duet
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