Anime Explosion

Prepare for a sampling of Japanese ghosts and spirits, from sources that include the world's oldest novel, the urban legends of contemporary Japanese schoolchildren, movies both classic and modern, anime, manga, and more.

It was between 1900 and 1930 that Ravel composed these works; from the Menuet Antique right up to La Valse, Europe, and indeed the world, are full of frenzy, acceleration, fury and finally explosion. Did this monstrous machine ever stop? It was at the end of 2015, that Hélène Tysman recorded this disc, and two phrases in particular which inspired her for this programme still resonate: the quotation of Henri de Régnier, highlighting the Valses Nobles et sentimentales, who talks of "the delicious and ongoing pleasure of a useless occupation", and the exchanges between two aristocrats, present at a soirée preceding the 1830 revolution, who observe; "we are dancing on a volcano", a phrase which would inspire Jean Renoir for La règle du jeu in 1939.

This album features two completely different works by French composers both written in 1944: Trio a Cordes Op.105 by Florent Schmitt and Suite La Muse Menagere by Darius Milhaud. One is turbulent and magnificent, the other intimate and poetic. The two composers could not be more different, and might be said to clash. And yet, Prisma String Trio feel their works are a beautiful match and complement each other well. Was it inspiration, call it the Muse, that brought the two together? Florent Schmitt's muse seems to be Music itself, leading him on in an explosion of compositional creativity. Darius Milhaud names his wife Madeleine as his muse and pours his gratitude into a musical tribute.