We know Pierné as a composer but less
so as a conductor. In fact he did some house conducting for French
Odeon and was invariably to be found in charge of the esteemed
orchestra of the Concerts Colonne, which had a history of producing
some inspired players from among its ranks. What Odeon didn't
yet have, as is evident on this fascinating double CD set, was
a reliable or particularly up-to-date recording set up. Many of
these sides are somewhat cramped and boxy but Malibran does at
least preserve the sound warts and all. I suspect Ward Marston
would have massaged the acoustic and given it a slightly warming
echo, as he's done to other French-made studio recordings from
around this period. I quite like the grit and honesty of most
of Malibran's work here, the more so as these are not exactly
commonplace recordings even on historical labels.
They were made in Paris between 1928 and 1934,
three years before his death, and are of exclusively native Franco-Belgian
repertoire and are conducted with considerable dash and élan
by Pierné. Despite the by now rather old-fashioned acoustic
congestion we can appreciate his way with Chabrier, lilting, driving
but also sensitive. If he proves somewhat more robust than is
ideal it's a fault very much on the right side as his Danse Villageoise
and Bourée Fantasque show. España however goes well
– it's finely characterised and life affirming. His Bizet is equally
zestful – there's a particularly catchy and delightful Adagietto.
We can hear the still unsullied French wind tradition in the Debussy,
as well as some succulently quick string portamenti – albeit this
is a slightly rough copy and there's a less than good side join.
His Franck is very romantic and dramatic and there's real sweep
in Eros et Psyché. As a composer-conductor it's fascinating
to hear him conducting his own music. How superbly he animates
those shuffling bass lines and releases the witty and very high
winds in the March in Cydalise. Or how witty and charming is the
offbeat fun of the Marche des élèves Nymphes, how
chatty and chattering the winsome writing of the Suite de la leçon
de danse. If you want to experience Pierné at his most
loquacious try the wind badinage in Giration or the manner in
which he brings out the beautiful tune there or the fascinating
array of soloistic talent available to act out his music. There's
something wrong with the copy used for Ramuntcho, the Basque popular
tunes piece. It's breezy fun but something has gone awry with
the transfer from around 3.20 – this is just before the end of
the first side of the 78 and Malibran's copy suffers from wow.
We can also hear the composer in his role as pianist (he was a
notable organist) in his Sonata da Camera. The most striking of
the movements is the second, a slow sarabande on the name of Louis
Fleury and a nobly concentrated tribute.
Malibran continues its admirable quest to capture
some of the leading French musicians of that time. Pierné
didn't record extensively and it's a delight to have his idiomatic
performances once more available in this handy twofer.
Jonathan Woolf
Gabriel Pierné
(piano), Marcel Moyse (flute), H Lopes (cello) in the Sonata da camera
