Henri DUTILLEUX (1916-2013)
Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher [8:50]
Tout un monde lointain [27:56]
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
Sonata for cello and piano [10:40]
Emmanuelle Bertrand (cello)
Pascal Moyel (piano) (Sonata)
Lucerne Symphony Orchestra/James Gaffigan (Tout un monde lointain)
rec. Teldex Studio, Berlin, December 2014 (Trois Strophes and Sonata), Kultur-
und Kongresszentrum de Lucerne, November 2014 (Tout un monde lointain)
HARMONIA MUNDI HMC902209 [47:42]
Henri Dutilleux's work has been gaining attention
through a number of significant recent recordings. Esa-Pekka
Salonen recorded his Correspondances with the Orchestre Philharmonique
de Radio France, and Ludovic Morlot has recorded both his symphonies, as well
as other works, as the new conductor of the Seattle Symphony (review
~ review).
This opportunity to experience and appraise his work casts him as among the
most significant French composers of the late twentieth century.
Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher (Three Strophes or Stanzas on
the name Sacher) is one of several works Dutilleux wrote in appreciation of
Paul Sacher, who helped the composer not only through commissions, but also
through funding a corneal graft operation to restore his sight damaged through
shingles. The set of notes E flat, A, C, B, E, D render Sacher's name,
if one creatively mixes French and German nomenclature. Trois Strophes
is for solo cello. It is a rewarding work, but an uneasy one: skittering,
volatile and brooding under the surface.
Dutilleux met Sacher through the mediation of Mstislav Rostropovich. The cellist
had commissioned and premiered the concertante work Tout un monde lointain
(A whole distant world). It has received recordings by Rostropovich,
as well as Marc
Coppey, Lynn
Harrell (also
here), Xavier
Phillips, Arto
Noras, Truls Mørk and Anssi
Karttunen. Along with the title, each of the five movements is inspired,
and the scores headed by, quotations from Baudelaire's poetry. These
poems are reproduced in full, though only in French, in the booklet; giving,
at least to Francophone readers, a sense of the Symbolist cultural world in
which Dutilleux worked and created this piece.
In the first movement, "Enigma", sound of cymbals and the cello
emerge from the depths of the night - as the composer says, "like glow-worms
in a nocturnal landscape". Things get more energetic, with the cello
and orchestra more in chamber-music dialogue than in concerto opposition.
The second movement, "Gaze", starts stately and continues with measured,
constrained intensity. The third, "Surges", does indeed display
the restlessness of an active seascape in its volatile rhythms and orchestral
emphases. "Mirrors" starts with harp and marimba, which welcome
the cello, resulting in a three-way conversation. With "Hymn" the
whole orchestra, including percussion, erupt back onto the scene. For the
first time in this work the cello sounds like a concerto instrument, asserting
its theme against orchestral happenings before they finish in quiet resignation.
Debussy's Sonata for Cello and Piano is included between the two Dutilleux
works. It is suffused both by the perfume associated with French chamber music,
and with a rhythmic energy that speaks of conversation with jazz influences.
It is worthily performed by Bertrand and pianist Pascal Amoyel. Its inclusion
is apt in that Debussy was a lifelong influence on Dutilleux.
Emmanuelle Bertrand is the cello soloist in all three works. She and Harmonia
Mundi are to be congratulated for keeping the music and its composers front
and centre, while as performer remaining a humble, faithful servant to that
music. No soloist-name in blazing large-type on the CD cover, as would be
the case so often.
Dutilleux envisioned himself as continuing in the tradition of Debussy but
with his own voice. The evidence of this recording is that that assessment
is fair, and that will give you a good sense of whether the effort might appeal
to you. Both the music and the performances are worthy of attention.
Brian Burtt
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