Gabriel DUPONT (1878-1914)
Les Heures Dolentes (1903-5) [62:20]
La Maison dans les Dunes (1907-9) [45:15]
Bernard Paul-Reynier (piano)
rec. Passavant Music Acoustic Studio, Passavant, France, 2008. DDD
PASSAVANT MUSIC PAS 225043 [62:20 + 45:15]
The nearest Maurice Ravel got in five attempts to winning the musical Prix
de Rome was in 1901, when his String Quartet could only manage third behind
André Caplet's cantata Myrrha. This much-told anecdote usually
omits to mention the Second Prize winner, who was French composer Gabriel
Dupont; no relation to Debussy's lover, Gabrielle Dupont. Dupont's output
is small, his life cut short by illness, yet his lack of recognition is a
cause for dismay.
However, wheels appear to be moving within wheels, and just a year after Canadian
pianist Stéphane Lemelin's excellent recording for ATMA Classique's
of Dupont's Les Heures Dolentes and La Maison dans les Dunes
(review),
along comes another by French pianist Bernard Paul-Reynier. Paul-Reynier is
an elusive chap, so much so that any information at all about him is hard
to come by - perhaps that is why even Passavant omit a biography! This appears
to be at least his fourth recording for the label, however.
Dupont wrote Les Heures Dolentes ('The Mournful Hours') whilst suffering
and then recuperating from tuberculosis. The suggestive subtitles of the fourteen
movements reflect a physical and mental journey through convalescence at a
spa, from the peacefulness of 'Evening Falls inside the Bedroom', the early
optimism of 'Sunshine in the Garden' and 'A Lady Friend Has Come with Some
Flowers', the ambiguities of 'The Doctor', the eerie resignation of 'Death
Lurks' and the sinister sonorities and rhythms of 'Sleepless Night - Hallucinations'.
Fortunately Dupont survives and the work finishes with relief and perhaps
a little hope in 'Calm'. A subtle, aromatic blend of Impressionism and late-Romanticism,
recalling at times Fauré, Debussy and Granados, the music is programmatic,
but poetic, not clichéd; atmospheric from beginning to end, and overall
memorably colourful and rather beautiful. For les heures indolentes,
‘Les Heures Dolentes’ makes perfect listening.
La Maison dans les Dunes ('The House on the Downs') is even better.
Though again composed by Dupont whilst at a seaside refuge for TB sufferers,
he was, temporarily at least, in much better health, and the vividness of
this suite reflects that. The House in question looks out to sea - and what
can be seen there in the course of a day, from the movements of the waves
to sail boats, all manner of weather and the changing sky, is what the ten
movements seek to evoke. The music, steeped in beautiful chromatic harmony,
is by turn playful, sun-bathed, agitated, poignant, but always gloriously
lyrical. Given especially the watery theme, Debussy not surprisingly looms
large, Ravel to a lesser degree, but Dupont's sound is original and in some
ways has greater immediacy and wider appeal. The House in the Dunes
is transcendent music perfect for gazing out onto the water on warm summer
days under great blue skies. Failing that - anytime, anywhere.
Besides Lemelin, the prolific Bulgarian pianist Emile Naoumoff has recorded
both these works for French label Saphir (LVC1097). Saphir subtitled their
double-disc the 'Complete Works for Solo Piano', but Oxford Music Online notes
at least some further Feuillets d'Album. It was re-released in 2010,
the same year French pianist François Kerdoncuff's recording of La
Maison dans les Dunes was released on the Timpani label (1C1072) - that
CD has the advantage of including Dupont's substantial Poème
for piano quintet. According to Passavant's website, the present disc was
first made available in 2009, though the publication date on the product itself
says 2010. Either way, it was re-released in August 2012.
Paul-Reynier takes a far more leisurely pace than Lemelin, Naoumoff or Kerdoncuff,
especially in Les Heures Dolentes, where he is around six minutes slower
than the slowest of the competition. Yet he never seems to linger too long
or make the music drag - these are dreamy, laid-back works that do not need
to be rushed. At more than an hour in length, Les Heures Dolentes on
its own is a mammoth work, requiring substantial stamina and agility. Paul-Reynier
certainly has that and never loses his way, bringing experience and intelligence
to Dupont's vivid, endlessly imaginative music in very satisfying, stylish
interpretations.
The booklet notes are in French only. As there is no biography of Paul-Reynier
anyway, a workaround for those who cannot read French would be the fine booklet
that came with the ATMA recording - it can be downloaded/previewed for free
here.
Readers inspired to obtain the Lemelin recording will not be disappointed.
Those that do know French will find the Passavant notes brief but well written
and presented in an attractive way with plenty of colour and illustrations.
Sound quality is very good. Lemelin's recording benefited from a spacious
church acoustic - Paul-Reynier's was done in the studio and is consequently
drier and closer. Of the three double-CD sets available, Passavant's is cheapest,
ATMA's dearest.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
Vivid, endlessly imaginative music in very satisfying, stylish interpretations.