Faune

Valery Gergiev’s 1st recording of French music on the LSO Live label, Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, Boléro, Pavane – Gergiev was characterised by an unexpected affinity for this music & a warmth of expression not usually associated with this conductor. This follow-up issue confirms Gergiev’s credentials as a Francophile conductor (as do his recent meticulous performances of the music of Henri Dutilleux at the Barbican.

The Hallé and Sir Mark Elder follow their previous highly acclaimed Debussy albums, with a stunning orchestral collection including a world premiere recording. Album includes the hugely popular Prélude a L’après-midi d’un faune, alongside the orchestral tour de force Images, a work which fully displays the composer’s mastery, and the world premiere recording of Colin Matthew’s orchestration of Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut, from the 2nd Book of Images for piano.

Faune is a complete work of art with a level of performance and expression unusual in a debut. It traces, by its very design, the formation of a refined and timeless music, executed with imagination, finesse, and elegance. This is the kind of music you close your eyes to – fall into a dreamlike state and envision colors, or even the imaginative forests and/or wildlife that Pannier conceived in his writing.

Marius Constant, who had an intimate knowledge of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, published Impressions de Pelléas, published in 1992 an abridged version (95 minutes instead of 150) for six singers and two pianists. In an intense flow of music, he telescopes the five acts with great finesse, removing a few scenes and making a fair number of cuts and a few minimal adjustments to the musical material. For the scenography, he suggested, ‘We are in an early twentieth-century salon’ This reflects the fact that during the genesis of Pelléas, Debussy regularly played fragments of it for his circle of friends. In this version, both listeners and performers are involuntarily swept towards the origin and essence of Debussy’s masterpiece: a ‘music of the soul’ in which we can all recognise our own Mélisande, Pelléas, Arkel, Geneviève, Yniold and Golaud. This chamber version of the opera is completed by the Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune in Debussy’s own transcription for two pianos and the suite En blanc et noir. The two pianos used are the new straight-strung instruments built in Belgium by Chris Maene at the request of Daniel Barenboim.