SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Ravel: Susan Graham (mezzo) London Symphony Orchestra/Yan Pascal Tortelier, Barbican Hall, London, 11.6.2009 (J-PJ)

Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye
Ravel: Shéhérazade
Debussy: Prélude à l’Après-midi d’un Faune
Debussy: La Mer


The London Symphony Orchestra threw open a showcase of delights during this concert of French impressionist masterpieces.  Ravel’s Ma Mère l’Oye is mainly known through the composer’s own suite arrangement, but in fact it began life as a series of piano duets for the children of two of his friends. It was then extended and orchestrated as a ballet for the impresario Jacques Rouche in 1912 - just a few months before Diaghilev’s production of Daphnis and Chloé. The full length ballet is almost never performed, which means that many of the actions and events which Ravel specifically described in the score, are lost to listeners. It was a wise decision, therefore, for conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier to invite his son, Maxim, to narrate the storyline (in very precise, expressive English). The narration highlighted the sensitivity, delicacy and humour within the music. The playing itself was superb. A relaxed, breezy sense of fun permeated Tortelier’s conducting, and every note could be heard clearly through the Barbican Hall’s warm, resonant acoustics. The harp, horn and string playing were particularly deft and skilful

The short song cycle Shéhérazade is an unashamed blaze of orientalist escapism. The three settings of poems by Léon Leclère (aka Tristan Klingsor) openly revel in the real and imagined sights, sounds, smells and emotions of the east. Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham fulfilled the roles of dreamy fantasist, yearning lover and would-be seducer in each of the three songs. Her diction was a little imprecise and muffled at times, but her pace, tone and voice control were just right. In the second song (La Flûte Enchantée) her delivery was especially delicate and poised, and she was well supported by a sensitively balanced orchestra.

Of all four works in the programme, Debussy’s Prélude à l’Après-midi d’un Faune was the least satisfying. This was partly as a result of chronology - the prelude is one of Debussy’s earliest orchestral offerings (dating from 1892), and is perhaps less developed and sophisticated than his and Ravel’s later works. But there was also something about Tortelier’s and the LSO’s delivery that didn’t quite work. The playing felt angular, and rushed. A quickish tempo propelled it too far forward, and the piece generally lacked the atmosphere of a hushed, lazy afternoon.

No such reservations with La Mer. The playing was faultless, and Tortelier’s direction was intelligent and controlled, while allowing the players some leeway in their approach. In the first movement (From Dawn to Noon on the Sea) the subtle, misty, opening was especially effective, and odd unpredictable touches by the percussion and brass kept up a sense of unsettled tension. In the second movement (Play of the Waves), the restrained brass playing and more prominent harp and glockenspiel opened up new ways of listening to the piece. In the central section of the final movement (Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea) the stings sounded almost voice-like, before Tortelier ratcheted up the tension and brought the orchestra crashing down to screaming climax.

The concert will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 17 June.

John-Pierre Joyce


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